SAN FRANCISCO — Barry Bonds’ confident defense team rested its case Wednesday without calling a witness, just minutes after a federal judge accepted the government’s request to dismiss one of the five counts against baseball’s home run king.
Prosecutors called 25 witnesses to the stand over 2 1/2 weeks, but the defense needed just one minute to present its side. The jury of eight women and four men barely had time to get settled in the courtroom before being told to return this morning for closing arguments.
“We are expecting that you will get this case for decision (today),” U.S. District Judge Susan Illston said to them. “(Today) will be the last day.”
Once indicted on as many as 15 counts, Bonds will face just four charges when the jury starts deliberations in a courthouse less than 2 miles from the ballpark where he set records for the Giants.
A decision could come as early as Friday — when the World Series championship flag is raised in San Francisco for the first time.
Faced with a defense motion Illston was prepared to grant, prosecutors dropped the count accusing Bonds of lying to a grand jury in 2003 when he said prior to that season he never took anything other than vitamins from trainer Greg Anderson. The defense said the government presented no evidence that Bonds was given Tetrahydrogestrinone (THG) and a testosterone ointment, designer steroids known as “The Clear” and “The Cream,” before 2003. Bonds testified in front of the grand jury that Anderson told him the substances were flaxseed oil and arthritic balm.
The remaining counts charge Bonds with lying when he denied knowingly receiving steroids from Anderson, denied getting human growth hormone from Anderson and said he only allowed himself to be injected by doctors. The final count accuses Bonds of obstruction of justice.
If Bonds is convicted, he could be sentenced to up to 10 years in prison on each count. However, federal guidelines suggest a total sentence of 15 to 21 months.
