The AP reports that a U.S. District Court Judge in San Francisco has ruled that federal prosecutors cannot use transcripts and recordings of voicemails former MLB superstar Barry Bonds left his mistress, Kimberly Bell, throughout the course of their nearly decade-long affair.
Prosecutors wanted to use the recordings as proof that Bonds has lied about using steroids during his career.
Apparently the messages display Bonds’ voice in a raging, violent tone, common for the personality of a performance enhancement drug user. It is not clear whether the ruling will permit Bell to testify that her relationship with Bonds was hostile because of his abusive language.
According to the AP , in connection with the Bonds’ trial for perjury that is scheduled to start March 21; both prosecutors and the defendant reportedly agreed to an 18-page questionnaire prospective jurors will have to fill out as part of the selection process.
Bonds was federally indicted December 2008 on 10 counts of making false statements to a grand jury about using performance enhancing drugs. The legendary slugger set a new single-season home-run record with 73 in 2001, the same year his name was linked to blood tests found by the FBI at BALCO Labs. The feds believe BALCO supplied Bonds with performance enhancement supplements and masking agents. But according to reports, the San Francisco-based 9th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals ruled in June 2010 that all evidence on federal charges of his lying about steroids use is inadmissible in court.