chicot60
07-14-2011, 08:45 PM
By Kevin Johnson, USA TODAY
WASHINGTON -- U.S. District Judge Reggie Walton Thursday called an abrupt end to the perjury trial of pitching great Roger Clemens, declaring a mistrial and ruling that federal prosecutors offered previously banned evidence that sought to bolster the credibility of a key government witness and Clemens' former teammate, Andy Pettitte.
The angry federal judge also raised the prospect that federal prosecutors may not re-try Clemens, setting a Sept 2 hearing on the matter.
"Sadly, I have reached a conclusion that to permit this case to go forward ... would deny Mr. Clemens a fair trial,'' Walton said.
Pettitte has told congressional investigators and prosecutors that Clemens once acknowledged using illegal growth hormone (HGH). But the court session quickly turned contentious when defense attorneys objected to videotaped comments from U.S. Rep. Elijah Cummings, D-Md., during a 2008 House committee hearing in which the congressman referred to an exchange between Pettitte and his wife, Laura Pettitte. In that conversation, Andy Pettitte allegedly recounted Clemens' discussion about using HGH for his wife.
Early in the case, Walton said he would limit testimony about Laura Pettitte that would improperly bolster Pettitte's credibility.
Cummings' videotaped remarks was drawn from a 2008 House Oversight and Government Reform Committee hearing where Clemens emphatically denied using performance enhancing drugs.
"I'm very troubled by this,'' and angry Walton said. "Government counsel should have been more cautious about what has been presented to this jury. I don't see how I can unring the bell. A first year law student would know that you can't bolster the credibility of one witness with clearly inadmissable evidence.
"I think Mr. Pettitte's testimony is going to be critical as to whether this man goes to prison,'' Walton said, referring to Clemens.
Responding to a defense request for a mistrial, Walton interrupted the proceedings and returned moments later with his decision to dismiss the jury.
Key to that decision, the judge said, was that while federal prosecutors and defense attorneys met privately with the judge to discuss the matter, the government left the frozen image of Cummings and the transcript of his remarks about Laura Pettitte on courtroom television screens in the view of the jurors.
"In my view, the ability of this defendant to get a fair trail before this jury will be difficult, if not impossible,'' Walton told the panel, selected only Tuesday for a trial that was expected to last up to six weeks.
"Ladies and gentleman, we have taken a week out of your life at a cost of a lot of taxpayers' money,'' Walton told the panel in a hushed courtroom. "But there are rules we play by ... They are important when someone's life and liberty depend on it.''
When it was over, Clemens and his legal team emerged from the courtroom, embracing each other and some courthouse staffers as they made a slow walk to the exits.
"I would have liked to have gone forward, but we just didn't have a chance,'' defense attorney Rusty Hardin said, flashing a wide grin. "Roger is not gonna have anything to say, but it is a beautiful day.''
Prosecutors Jack Durham and Daniel Butler left the courthouse without comment.
For the government, the mistrial brought a crushing end -- at least for now -- to a case that was three years in the making and just one day after opening statements when Durham promised jurors that they would prove that Clemens had used performance-enhancing drugs. He said the government would call some 45 witnesses who would show evidence of his drug use down to the "dates, times and sources'' of it.
Pettitte's role in the case is central to the government's contention that Clemens used performance enhancing drugs and later lied about it in 2008 to congressional investigators and to members of Congress during a public hearing before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee. At the time, the congressional panel was conducting an inquiry into the use of steroids in Major League Baseball.
A former Clemens teammate with the New York Yankees and Houston Astros, Pettitte is expected to provide key corroboration to the testimony of Clemens' former trainer, Brian McNamee.
McNamee contends that he injected Clemens numerous times with steroids and HGH between 1998 and 2001. He also has turned over used needles and bloody gauze that he allegedly saved from those injections to government prosecutors.
Prosecutors have since revealed that those materials tested positive for Clemens' DNA and anabolic steroids.
http://content.usatoday.com/communities/dailypitch/post/2011/07/roger-clemens-judge-considers-mistrial/1
WASHINGTON -- U.S. District Judge Reggie Walton Thursday called an abrupt end to the perjury trial of pitching great Roger Clemens, declaring a mistrial and ruling that federal prosecutors offered previously banned evidence that sought to bolster the credibility of a key government witness and Clemens' former teammate, Andy Pettitte.
The angry federal judge also raised the prospect that federal prosecutors may not re-try Clemens, setting a Sept 2 hearing on the matter.
"Sadly, I have reached a conclusion that to permit this case to go forward ... would deny Mr. Clemens a fair trial,'' Walton said.
Pettitte has told congressional investigators and prosecutors that Clemens once acknowledged using illegal growth hormone (HGH). But the court session quickly turned contentious when defense attorneys objected to videotaped comments from U.S. Rep. Elijah Cummings, D-Md., during a 2008 House committee hearing in which the congressman referred to an exchange between Pettitte and his wife, Laura Pettitte. In that conversation, Andy Pettitte allegedly recounted Clemens' discussion about using HGH for his wife.
Early in the case, Walton said he would limit testimony about Laura Pettitte that would improperly bolster Pettitte's credibility.
Cummings' videotaped remarks was drawn from a 2008 House Oversight and Government Reform Committee hearing where Clemens emphatically denied using performance enhancing drugs.
"I'm very troubled by this,'' and angry Walton said. "Government counsel should have been more cautious about what has been presented to this jury. I don't see how I can unring the bell. A first year law student would know that you can't bolster the credibility of one witness with clearly inadmissable evidence.
"I think Mr. Pettitte's testimony is going to be critical as to whether this man goes to prison,'' Walton said, referring to Clemens.
Responding to a defense request for a mistrial, Walton interrupted the proceedings and returned moments later with his decision to dismiss the jury.
Key to that decision, the judge said, was that while federal prosecutors and defense attorneys met privately with the judge to discuss the matter, the government left the frozen image of Cummings and the transcript of his remarks about Laura Pettitte on courtroom television screens in the view of the jurors.
"In my view, the ability of this defendant to get a fair trail before this jury will be difficult, if not impossible,'' Walton told the panel, selected only Tuesday for a trial that was expected to last up to six weeks.
"Ladies and gentleman, we have taken a week out of your life at a cost of a lot of taxpayers' money,'' Walton told the panel in a hushed courtroom. "But there are rules we play by ... They are important when someone's life and liberty depend on it.''
When it was over, Clemens and his legal team emerged from the courtroom, embracing each other and some courthouse staffers as they made a slow walk to the exits.
"I would have liked to have gone forward, but we just didn't have a chance,'' defense attorney Rusty Hardin said, flashing a wide grin. "Roger is not gonna have anything to say, but it is a beautiful day.''
Prosecutors Jack Durham and Daniel Butler left the courthouse without comment.
For the government, the mistrial brought a crushing end -- at least for now -- to a case that was three years in the making and just one day after opening statements when Durham promised jurors that they would prove that Clemens had used performance-enhancing drugs. He said the government would call some 45 witnesses who would show evidence of his drug use down to the "dates, times and sources'' of it.
Pettitte's role in the case is central to the government's contention that Clemens used performance enhancing drugs and later lied about it in 2008 to congressional investigators and to members of Congress during a public hearing before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee. At the time, the congressional panel was conducting an inquiry into the use of steroids in Major League Baseball.
A former Clemens teammate with the New York Yankees and Houston Astros, Pettitte is expected to provide key corroboration to the testimony of Clemens' former trainer, Brian McNamee.
McNamee contends that he injected Clemens numerous times with steroids and HGH between 1998 and 2001. He also has turned over used needles and bloody gauze that he allegedly saved from those injections to government prosecutors.
Prosecutors have since revealed that those materials tested positive for Clemens' DNA and anabolic steroids.
http://content.usatoday.com/communities/dailypitch/post/2011/07/roger-clemens-judge-considers-mistrial/1