Judge Might Toss damning evidence against Barry Bonds

An article was published recently by the “New York Daily News” saying that the U.S. district judge Susan Illston indicated Thursday that she will exclude evidence that prosecutors say links Barry Bonds to positive drug tests, including three positive tests seized in a raid on the BALCO laboratory in 2003.According to Illston, who held an evidentiary hearing on the admissibility of evidence the government is presenting in Bonds' upcoming trial on perjury and obstruction of justice charges, the government cannot link Bonds to the tests without the testimony of Greg Anderson, who is Bonds former trainer.

The judge is expected to issue a ruling on the evidence within the next week to 10 days. Bonds lawyer Allen Ruby believes they have solid legal arguments looks forward to the court's decision on these legal matters. According to the “Daily News” Anderson, was reported last week to have been subpoenaed for the March 2nd trial.According to the article Anderson has told his attorneys that he will not testify against Bonds and is preparing to return to jail. He has already served two terms in jail on contempt charges for refusing to cooperate with the government in its pursuit of a conviction against baseball's all-time home run king. (http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=3906484). Visit this link for some more on that story.

According to the judge "There has to be an establishment of whether the blood test was of the defendant or not," Illston during the hearing. "That is the linchpin. If there is no testimony to establish the blood samples were of the defendant, then that's that." She called the claims that the tests were Bonds' "classic hearsay." (www.nytimes.com)

Controversy surrounds the evidence seized from Anderson's home that prosecutors say link Bonds to the BALCO tests. It has been indicated that these urine samples were initially handled by Greg Anderson and thereafter by BALCO's James Valente," Conte said Thursday. The defense argue that neither of them has a degree or license that would qualify them to process such laboratory samples. These test results are identified by a number only. There is no name on these reports.
Judge Illston is also expected to rule whether a 2003 test conducted by Major League Baseball can be introduced at trial. The results of that test, which was negative under baseball's testing program, indicate that in a later retest of the sample, Bonds tested positive for THG, or "The Clear,". (nydailynews.com). To write this article a lot of research was conducted by the New York times, New York daily news, ESPN and many more. In order to ensure that the information provided in the article was accurate and up to date.