Ahead In The Count?

FOR MANY baseball fans—and perhaps the teams that have shied away from signing him—it is a foregone conclusion that Barry Bonds lied when he told a grand jury in December 2003 that he never took steroids or human growth hormone. But if last week's verdict in the trial of BALCO customer and track coach Trevor Graham is any indication, proving Bonds's guilt when he goes on trial won't be easy. In order to convict Bonds of perjury, the government has to prove that the home run king not only fibbed, but also that he did so knowingly and that the lies could have impacted a criminal investigation. Graham , who was convicted on one of three counts of lying to federal agents, walked out of court last Thursday with a hung jury on the other two counts, partly because not every juror was convinced that Graham 's lie affected the BALCO case. In an interview conducted in 2004, Graham , who is to be sentenced on Sept. 5 and will likely receive no more than six months, told agents that he had never met admitted performance-enhancing drug dealer Angel Heredia in person. But during the trial, prosecutors displayed a picture of Graham and Heredia together in 1996.

A slam dunk for the prosecution, right? Wrong. Jury foreman Frank Stapleton, 59, said that it was hard to view Graham 's falsehood as important when Heredia was never charged. Stapleton also questioned the merit of the case against Graham in general. "The government was bound and determined to make an example of this defendant," he said. "I hope this verdict satisfies the Justice Department's lust for blood."

When Bonds's trial begins this fall, his lawyers will no doubt argue that their client is likewise being unfairly singled out—particularly since BALCO founder Victor Conte, and trainer Greg Anderson , the man who allegedly supplied Bonds with performance enhancers, have already been convicted of steroid distribution. Stapleton said that he came away from the trial with the feeling that BALCO investigators Jeff Novitzky and Erwin Rogers were "out to get" Graham , leaving him with doubts about some of the agents' statements. Bonds couldn't have said it better himself.