WASHINGTON — Lawyers for Roger Clemens urged a federal judge Friday to dismiss the perjury charges against him, arguing the conduct of prosecutors was so egregious that it forced them to seek a mistrial just two days into testimony.
Clemens, a seven-time Cy Young Award winner, was being prosecuted on charges of lying to Congress about taking performance-enhancing drugs when a federal judge declared a mistrial July 14 because prosecutors presented barred information to jurors.
U.S. District Judge Reggie Walton of the District of Columbia’s federal court then asked both sides to present arguments about whether he should permit a second trial of Clemens on charges of perjury, obstruction of Congress and making false statements.
In court filings Friday, the former pitcher’s attorneys argued retrying Clemens would violate his rights against double jeopardy, which protects defendants from being subjected to endless prosecutions. The lawyers must show federal prosecutors sought to provoke them into seeking a mistrial. They argue that prosecutors did just that because their case was going badly.
“The government had its day in court and squandered it with misconduct that irretrievably wasted time, money and the opportunity for a one-time, fair resolution of these charges,” the lawyers wrote.
Federal prosecutors are expected to argue in coming weeks they made an inadvertent error that should not cost them another chance at retrying Clemens.
