Mistrial in Clemens case

ASHINGTON -- The judge declared a mistrial Thursday in baseball star [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]' perjury trial after prosecutors showed jurors evidence that the judge had ruled out of bounds.

U.S. District Judge Reggie Walton said Clemens could not be assured a
fair trial after prosecutors showed jurors evidence against his orders
in the second day of testimony.


Walton scheduled a Sept. 2 hearing to determine whether to hold a new
trial. Rusty Hardin, Clemens' attorney, said he needs until July 29 to
file the motion for the hearing. The prosecution has until Aug. 2 to
respond.


Walton told jurors he was sorry to have wasted their time and spent so much taxpayer money, only to call off the case.


[h=4]Kreidler: Feds swing and miss again[/h] [You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]
First with Barry Bonds and now with Roger Clemens, the federal
government is proving it's terrible at prosecuting MLB's alleged steroid
users for perjury, Mark Kreidler writes. [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]



"There are rules that we play by and those rules are designed to make
sure both sides receive a fair trial," Walton told the jury, saying
such ground rules are critical when a person's liberty is at stake.


"If this man got convicted, he would go to jail," Walton said.


He said that because prosecutors broke his rules, "the ability with Mr.
Clemens with this jury to get a fair trial with this jury would be
very difficult if not impossible."


Prosecutors suggested the problem could be fixed with an instruction to
the jury to disregard the evidence, but Walton seemed skeptical. He
said he could never know what impact the evidence would have during the
jury's deliberations "when we've got a man's liberty at interest."


"I don't see how I un-ring the bell," he said.


Defense attorney Rusty Hardin patted an unsmiling Clemens on the back
as the judge announced his decision. Clemens did not speak to reporters
as he left the courtroom and made a telephone call in a private corner
of the hallway.


Clemens and his lawyers remain under a court gag order and they
declined to comment as they left the courthouse. Clemens hugged a
couple of court workers, shook hands with the security guards and
signed autographs and a couple of baseballs for fans


"I'm not going to say anything," Clemens said, sounding frustrated at
the mass of reporters and camera crews. He and his legal team ducked
into a nearby restaurant to escape the horde of news people.


Walton interrupted the prosecution's playing of a video from Clemens'
2008 testimony before Congress and had the jury removed from the
courtroom. Clemens is accused of lying during that testimony when he
said he never used performance-enhancing drugs during his 24-season
career in the Major Leagues.


One of the chief pieces of evidence against Clemens is testimony from his former teammate and close friend, [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.],
who says Clemens told him in 1999 or 2000 that he used human growth
hormone. Clemens has said that Pettitte misheard him. Pettitte also says
he told his wife, Laura, about the conversation the same day it
happened.


[h=4]The Herd with Colin Cowherd[/h]














ESPN legal analyst Roger Cossack breaks down the Roger Clemens
mistrial. Cossack explains why the trial was ended and explains what
happens next.
[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]



Prosecutors had wanted to call Laura Pettitte as a witness to back up
her husband's account, but Walton had said he wasn't inclined to have
her testify since she didn't speak directly to Clemens.


Walton was angered that in the video prosecutors showed the jury, Rep.
Elijah Cummings, D-Md., referred to Pettitte's conversation with his
wife.


"I think that a first-year law student would know that you can't
bolster the credibility of one witness with clearly inadmissible
evidence," Walton said.


He said it was the second time that prosecutors had gone against his
orders -- the other being an incident that happened during opening
arguments Wednesday when assistant U.S. attorney Steven Durham said
that Pettite and two other of Clemens' New York teammates, [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] and [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.], had used human growth hormone.


Walton said in pre-trial hearings that such testimony could lead jurors
to consider Clemens guilty by association. Clemens' defense attorney
objected when Durham made the statement and Walton told jurors to
disregard Durham's comments about other players.


There was no objection from Clemens' team during the Laura Pettitte
reference, but the judge stopped the proceedings, called attorneys up
to the bench and spoke to them privately for several minutes. Hardin
pointed out during that time, the video remained frozen on the screen
in front of jurors with a transcript of what was being said on the
bottom.


Cummings had been quoting from Laura Pettitte's affidavit to the
committee. "I, Laura Pettitte, do depose and state, in 1999 or 2000,
Andy told me had a conversation with [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] in which Roger admitted to him using human growth hormones," the text on the screen read.

The judge eventually told the jurors to leave while he discussed the issue with attorneys in open court.

"Government counsel should have been more cautious," Walton said,
raising his voice and noting that the case has already cost a lot of
taxpayer money. He then left the courtroom and said he would go consult
with a colleague on what to do.