Story highlights
Jury selection is scheduled to begin Monday
Baseball legend Roger Clemens is fighting a six-count federal indictment
A mistrial was declared in July after inadmissible evidence was shown in court
Clemens has denied using performance-enhancing drugs while a pro baseball player
Jury selection is expected to begin Monday in the trial of former Major League pitcher Roger Clemens, nine months after the previous one ended in a mistrial.
Federal prosecutors accuse Clemens of lying to Congress when lawmakers investigated the illicit use of steroids in professional baseball.
The case – involving one count of obstruction of Congress, three counts of making false statements and two counts of perjury – was declared a mistrial in July after evidence previously ruled inadmissible was shown in court.
It involved a video clip of a televised congressional hearing from 2008 in which a congressman referenced an affidavit from Laura Pettitte about purported steroid use encountered by her husband, former New York Yankees pitcher Andy Pettitte, Clemens and other players.
U.S. District Court Judge Reggie Walton ruled in pre-trial proceedings that Laura Pettitte’s testimony about steroid use was uncorroborated and inadmissible. Most of the extended video had played for the jury, however, before the judge realized it included the prohibited discussion.
Prosecutors subsequently asked for a new trial, saying they did not intend to air the clip in question.
“This was a mistake, a regretful mistake,” government attorney David Goodhand said in September, urging Walton to reject a defense motion to dismiss the indictment and prevent a new trial.
Walton blasted prosecutors, declaring, “I would hate to believe they just blatantly disregarded rulings that I made, but it’s hard for me to reach any other conclusion.”
Defense attorneys accused prosecutors of showing the clip deliberately and asked Walton to dismiss the six-count indictment.
“No doubt this was a calculated effort to make an end run around this court’s ruling,” Clemens defense attorney Michael Attanasio said at the time.
“The government’s use of this particular exhibit was premeditated,” the defense team wrote in a critique given to Walton in August, and was “not as innocent as the government suggests.”
The charges stem from Clemens’ 2008 testimony before the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, during which he denied using anabolic steroids.
Clemens has continually denied using performance-enhancing drugs during his professional baseball career.