Barry Bonds: Jury Says Bonds Guilty of Obstruction of Justice

The verdict is in: Barry Bonds is guilty.

While the jury of public opinion has determined that Bonds was guilty of knowingly taking steroids for years and lied about it, a federal court couldn’t seem to determine the same thing.

After four days of deliberation in the Barry Bonds trial, the jury could only render a verdict on one count, the obstruction of justice count in the Barry Bonds perjury trial.

Federal judge, Susan Illston, has declared a mistrial on the remaining three counts, as she believes the jury is at a crossroads and will not likely come to a decision regarding the other three counts.

To make it clear, the perjury charges were from a grand jury testimony he made in 2003 where he stated that he never knowingly took human growth hormone and that he had never been injected by anyone other than his physician.

The statements Bonds made in his 2003 grand jury testimony were refuted by several of Bonds’ business partners and associates, but the questionable motives by these people seem to have led the jury into a deadlock.

The count of obstruction of justice, which Bonds was found guilty on, is in relation to him hindering the grand jury investigation into BALCO’s sports doping scandal by lying to the grand jury.  

The Los Angeles Times is reporting that while the maximum sentence for each count is 10 years in prison, that most recommended sentences are between 15 and 21 months.

They are also reporting that many analysts think Bonds is likely to get home confinement for the duration of his sentence.