Roger Clemens trial begins in Washington

Reporting from Washington — In a Washington courtroom not far from where 11-time All-Star pitcher Roger Clemens testified before Congress, one of Major League Baseball’s biggest names went on trial Wednesday before a jury of 12 ordinary citizens and a national public disgusted by performance-enhancing drug scandals that have mocked the credibility of the game.

Clemens won seven Cy Young awards in a legendary career that typically would make him a lock for the Hall of Fame. But now he stands charged with perjury, obstructing Congress and making false statements for telling investigators and declaring in an open hearing three years ago that he never used steroids or HGH — a human growth hormone.

He is the latest in a lineup of prominent athletes whose fame and prowess have been undercut by allegations they turned to drugs to improve their game.

Indeed, some of the star witnesses at Clemens’ trial — possibly up to 140 over the next four to six weeks — will include his fellow athletes, trainers and managers as the jury of 10 women and two men sorts out whether Clemens, 48, lied when he told Congress he never touched the drugs.

“Let me be clear,” he said before the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform in February 2008. “I have never taken steroids or HGH.”

“I have not used steroids or growth hormone. … I am just making it as possibly clear as I can. I haven’t done steroids or growth hormone.”

Clemens was indicted by a federal grand jury last August, and Wednesday morning in opening statements Asst. U.S. Atty. Steven Durham told the jurors to “walk outside on Constitution Avenue and look to your left and you’ll see a magnificent view of the Capitol building of the United States.”

It is that structure, he said, and the law that anyone taking the oath must tell the truth, that is the bedrock of this case. Witnesses cannot lie, especially if it impedes Congress’ ability to do its job. Congress was investigating baseball and drugs in hopes of “restoring faith in America’s pastime,” Durham said.

And yet Clemens lied 15 times, the prosecutor said.

“Major League Baseball is a very demanding game that tears the body down every day,” Durham said. “There are only a limited number of spots and every year younger players come into the game and they want to take the spots of older players.”

Congress had expected to hear the truth from Clemens, both in a sworn deposition and open hearing testimony. Instead, Durham said, “when he raised his right hand and he swore that he never used the drugs, that was false and he knew that it was false.”

Clemens’ chief defense attorney, Rusty Hardin of Houston, told the jurors “the heart of this case is whether Roger Clemens is telling the truth.” But he said “sometimes the government can be wrong, and they are terribly wrong in this case.”

Clemens sat quietly in the courtroom in a gray suit and tie. He does not face charges for using the drugs, but his legacy, and likely his chance at immortality in baseball’s Hall of Fame, rest with this case. He won 354 games in 24 seasons, pitching for the Boston Red Sox, Toronto Blue Jays, New York Yankees and Houston Astros. If convicted of the charges against him, he faces up to 30 years in prison and a $1.5-million fine.

Among the government witnesses will be Andy Pettitte, a former three-time All-Star pitcher and Clemens teammate who has admitted using HGH. Pettitte is expected to testify that Clemens told him he used HGH too.

Prosecutors also have Brian McNamee, a strength and conditioning coach who claims that he injected not only Clemens, but also the pitcher’s wife. Durham said McNamee kept the needles and cotton balls to insure he was not “thrown under the bus,” and traces of anabolic steroids were found on the needles and swabs.

Clemens has maintained that he was injected with vitamin B-12 and the anesthetic lidocaine. Durham said laboratory tests found neither substance on the cotton swabs or the needles.

But what was Clemens’ motive to lie?

“It’s a kid’s game played by adults,” Durham told the jury. “And adults want to continue to play the game. And you’ll learn about the Hall of Fame. That is something Mr. Clemens wants.”

Hardin countered that a 2007 Major League Baseball investigation that found Clemens had used steroids devastated his client, and he has since tried to rebuild his image. Clemens voluntarily appeared before Congress to clear his name.

“Your body is your temple. You don’t put those things in there,” Hardin said in describing Clemens beliefs. “You don’t cheat. You don’t take the easy way.”

Clemens’ lawyers wasted no time in attacking McNamee’s credibility. Hardin said Clemens was at his most powerful as a pitcher long before he met McNamee, and that Clemens continued to play ball for six years after he allegedly last used the drugs.

“If you used this stuff to allegedly prolong your career, why would you stop?” Hardin said.

The defense lawyer said McNamee has lied to authorities about Clemens.

“There were a series of lies, many of which Mr. McNamee will concede he made,” Hardin said. The lawyer said Pettitte also is mistaken about Clemens.

Using a former trainer and a teammate to get Clemens is an overreach, Hardin said.

“This is the classic example of chasing a flea on an elephant,” he said. “Should you make a felon out of a man who had the temerity to say he didn’t do it?”

Clemens is the latest athlete to land in court in the wake of baseball’s steroid scandals. In 2009, Miguel Tejada pleaded guilty to misleading Congress about the use of performance-enhancing drugs, and Tejada acknowledged that he bought HGH as well.

A former American League MVP with the Oakland Athletics, Tejada was prosecuted by the same government lawyers in this same courthouse, and he tearfully apologized for his behavior. He faced a year in prison and deportation to the Dominican Republic, but instead was given one year of probation.

This year in San Francisco, Giants slugger Barry Bonds was convicted of obstructing justice for misleading a grand jury about steroids. He has yet to be sentenced.

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