Barry Bonds did not lie about being injected with steroids or withhold information when he was asked in court about performance-enhancing drug use, at least as far as the U.S. Department of Justice is concerned.
According to The Associated Press, the Department of Justice on Tuesday dropped its criminal prosecution of Bonds for obstruction of justice. The all-time Major League Baseball home run leader had been convicted of obstruction of justice in 2011, but a federal appeals court later overturned the conviction.
The DOJ has decided that the reversal will not be challenged in the U.S. Supreme Court.
While testifying in 2011, Bonds was accused of refusing to answer directly when asked if his trainer, Greg Anderson, had ever injected him with any substance or given him any substance to inject himself. Because Anderson chose to go to jail rather than testify, there was little evidence to use against Bonds — these voicemails were among the evidence that was disallowed — to convict him of using steroids and/or HGH or lying about it.
With Tuesday’s ruling, Bonds essentially has nothing to worry about anymore from a legal standpoint. As we know, Hall of Fame voters are free to draw their own conclusions and vote however they please. That will likely keep Bonds out of the Hall, whether he deserves to be in or not.
