Bonds' grand jury testimony unsealed
SAN FRANCISCO – The judge in the Barry Bonds perjury case delivered two blows to the government Friday, ordering prosecutors to redraft “duplicitous” counts in the indictment and ordering the unsealing of Bonds' grand jury testimony.
The hearing was called to determine whether Judge Susan Ilston would grant Bonds' motion to dismiss counts from the five-count indictment. After hearing arguments from both sides, she requested that prosecutors either drop some of the charges or begin all over with a new set of counts. Although she did not dismiss the case, Ilston was coolly dismissive of the unsteady prosecutors.
Ilston showed little patience for the prosecutors' argument that ambiguities and duplicity in the counts should be heard at trial. The judge also accused the government of piling on by accusing Bonds of lying multiple times in each count.
“The government needs to choose,” she said.
Bonds’ gray-haired attorney Dennis Riordan, author of the motion to dismiss, volunteered to the court that he could redraft the flawed indictment and save the government from having to take the cumbersome step of “dismissal and a superceding indictment.”
The prosecutors appeared taken aback by Riordan's audacious offer and flustered by Ilston's skepticism. Prosecutor Douglas Wilson persisted in arguing that evidence introduced at trial would make the ambiguities and duplicity irrelevant.
Ilston leaned back in her chair and clicked her pen.
"Why wait until trial to fix a problem,” she said, taking off her glasses and pressing forward. “We know what the problem is.”
Before that blow had fully sunken in, she delivered a shocker. She asked whether the secrecy surrounding Bonds’ grand jury testimony made sense anymore.
“Is there any reason to continue to have it under seal?" she asked.
Wilson asked for a timeout and huddled with Matt Parrella, the lead BALCO prosecutor. “There would have to be a court order,” the junior prosecutor told Ilston.
The judge turned to the defense and with a hint of irony asked: “Do you object?”
Allen Ruby, another Bonds attorney, ambled up to the podium and smiled. Object? Of course not.
“I’m going to order it unsealed,” Ilston said, sending a wave of anticipation through the journalists in the courtroom. The transcripts were released Friday afternoon.
Other than selective leaks published in the San Francisco Chronicle, Bonds' grand jury testimony has been sealed since December 2003.
The government appeared at a loss to decide whether to edit the indictment or begin again with an entire new set of counts. Ilston granted Wilson's request for a status hearing March 21, but added a stern warning.
Outside the federal building 10 minutes later, Bonds’ attorneys were shaking hands, clearly celebrating. Bonds wasn't there, having been excused from attending by Ilston.
No one, not even the attorneys, was quite clear whether Bonds was still technically under a federal indictment – at least until the government shores up its case.
Said Riordan to the cameras: “Right this moment, there is not a valid indictment.”
