Despite Evidence, Roger Clemens Case Declared a Mistrial
After months of speculation, a judge declared a mistrial of baseball legend Roger Clemens’ federal perjury case.
Steve Durham, U.S. Attorney and prosecutor for the case, presented evidence to the court on Wednesday that seemingly proved Clemens had used anabolic steroids during his 24-season career. However, the images of actual needles and cotton balls used by Clemens years ago were not enough to correct the government mistakes made on the second day of trial.
In a previous court proceeding, U.S. District Judge Reggie Walton said testimonies or evidence from sources outside key witnesses were not allowed if they spoke about the credibility of the trial’s key witnesses. However, the government did not follow these rules.
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While the judge called lawyers to discuss one matter privately, a screen was left for the jury of 12 to view. The screen showed comments written by U.S. Representative Elijah E. Cummings in 2008, after hearing Clemen’s initial testimony when he denied using performance enhancing drugs.
"If that were true," Cummings’ statements read, "Why would Laura Pettitte remember her husband telling her about that?"
Cummings’ comments spoke about the wife of Andy Pettitte confirming that Clemens’ had confessed to hearing about the pitcher’s drug use. Pettitte was a former teammate of Clemens when he played for the New York Yankees and would have been a key witness in the case.
After jurors were exposed to Cummings’ comments that could have given credibility to Pettitte, Clemens' defense attorney asked for a mistrial. Although the prosecution said the mistake was unintentional, Walton did not hide his disgust with the turn of events.
"Government counsel doesn't do just what government counsel can get away with doing," the judge said. "And a first-year law student knows you can't alter the credibility of one witness with clearly inadmissible evidence."
