THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 5, 2007
SPORTS
MLB
9B
Media seek names in steroid ring
ASSOCIATED PRESS
SAN FRANCISCO — Seven media companies, including The Associated Press, filed papers with a federal appeals court Tuesday in support of Hearst Corp.'s fight to get the names of Major League Baseball players implicated in a steroids investigation.
The players, whose names are blacked out on the affidavit, are alleged to have purchased steroids from Radomski, who pleaded guilty to drug distribution and is expected to be sentenced to prison early next year by the same federal judge handling the Barry Bonds perjury case and all related steroid cases.
The names of almost two dozen baseball players appear on a federal agent's application to raid the home of a former New York Mets clubhouse employee and admitted steroids dealer Kirk Radomski last year.
As part of his plea bargain,
R ad o m s k i agree to cooperate with federal authorities and former Senate Majority Leader George Mitchell, who is investigating the use of performance-enhancing drugs for Major
publicly soon after the report is distributed to each MLB club.
"Particularly given the prior release of the names to Sen. Mitchell and MLB's right to further disseminate the names, a restriction on access to the court records cannot possibly be effective," states the brief submitted by Advance Publications Inc., the AP. Bloomberg News, CNN, the (New York) Daily News, The New York Times and the Tribune Co.
Prosecutors asked a judge to keep the names under seal to protect the ongoing investigation. The MLB players' union argued that the names should be kept confidential to protect the players' privacy.
"A restriction on access to the court records cannot possibly be effective."
The companies also argued that search warrant affidavits are usually publicly available "because they provide the factual justification for the exercise of significant governmental power — sending federal agents into an individual's house."
League Baseball. Radomski turned over the names to Mitchell, which the news organizations argue also entitles them and the public to the names.
MEDIA BRIEF
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Mitchell is expected to release his report by year's end and to name drug-using players. Those names are expected to be released
The media companies in their filing Tuesday said the players have no right to protect their names because "illegal drug purchases are not protected by any right to privacy."
Hearst made a similar court
Bonds expected to plead not guilty
filing Nov. 21 asking the same 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals panel in New York to make the names public. A lower court had previously ruled against the company, which owns the San Francisco Chronicle and other publications.
MLB
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Barry Bonds testified before a federal grand jury investigating the suspected distribution of illegal performance-enhancing drugs by two men closely associated with the San Francisco Giants star in 2003. Bonds was charged Thursday with perjury and obstruction of justice, the culmination of a four-year federal probe into whether he lied under oath to a grand jury investigating steroid use by elite athletes.
SAN FRANCISCO — Barry Bonds' first date with a federal judge is Friday, when he is expected to plead not guilty to perjury and obstruction of justice charges, but the slugger still has yet to assemble his full legal team.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Bonds and longtime attorney Mike Rains began shopping around the Bay Area for another lawyer with federal experience even before Bonds was charged Nov. 15 with lying to a grand jury about his steroids use.
Rains has a small firm focused mostly on defending police officers accused of misconduct and he has limited experience in federal court. So Laura Enos, another lawyer who represents Bonds' business interests, said the slugger was looking to add another lawyer while also retaining Rains.
Negotiations between Bonds and John Keker, one of the country's top—and most expensive—criminal defense attorneys, fell through last week over his fees and disagreements over control of the case, two people with knowledge of the negotiations said on condition of anonymity because they weren't authorized to speak publicly.
A grand jury indicted Bonds last month on four counts of perjury and one count of obstruction of justice.
Criminal law experts also said Keker may have faced conflict of interest issues because his firm represented the Major League Baseball players union in its unsuccessful lawsuit to prevent investigators from getting the names of some 100 players who tested positive for performance enhancing drug use in 2003.
So Bonds is still interviewing criminal defense lawyers, and is being advised by San Francisco civic leader Daniel Walter Sorenstein, and trial lawyer and deep-pocketed Democratic donor Joseph Cotchett, who was once the law partner of the judge presiding over Bond's case.
The career home run leader and former San Francisco outfielder likely faces a maximum of two years in prison if convicted.
Bonds' legal problems began with his testimony in December 2003 before a grand jury investigating a performance enhancing drug ring centered at the Bay Area Laboratory Co-Operative in Burlingame. Five men involved in the ring, including BALCO founder Victor Conte, Bonds' personal trainer Greg Anderson and track coach Remi Korchemy have pleaded guilty to drug charges.
George Walker, who represented Korchemny, said he's been interviewed by Bonds' representatives as a potential candidate. Walker said he had dinner with Bonds' business manager four months ago and has had several conversations since. But Walker said he hasn't heard anything from Bonds' camp lately.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
A fan holds a sign in regard to San Francisco Giants' Barry Bonds during their Major League Baseball game against the San Diego Padres in San Diego in August. Bonds has been in the public eye for years regarding debates about the MLB and steroids.
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