The Associated Press reports that Barry Bonds today filed a motion to dismiss the federal perjury charges of which he stands accused. Bonds argues that the indictment against him is “scattershot” and in many respects so lacking in specificity that it is not clear what false statements he is alleged to have made. From what I have read, the case against Bonds is fairly simple – he testified falsely to a grand jury that he never used performance enhancing drugs. I have read the indictment, and, while not a model of clear prose, I think that it fairly states the charge. So I’ll go out on a limb and predict that the court will deny Bonds’ motion. Now, if he’d moved to dismiss on the grounds that the case against him is stupid, and a colossal waste of money, he’d have a better chance. At least he would if I was the judge. Maybe if Miguel Tejada is indicted for lying to Congress he’ll make that argument, since any charges against Miggy for lying to Congress would be equally silly (oh, wait – evidently Tejada’s alleged lies impeded Congress’ ability to determine whether Rafael Palmeiro lied about using steroids. Iguess THAT’S important enough to warrant the expenditure of DOJ resources).
I am a baseball fan. Have been my whole life. I am interested – and concerned – about the use of performance enhancing drugs by players. I am wholly unconvinced, however, that the matter justifies employing federal investigatory and prosecutorial resources. I suppose one consolation might be that while the feds pursue these stupid cases, they will not have the resources to pursue other silly cases. Like the prosecution of the D.C. Madam, for instance.
