After countless weeks, large sums of money, and a slew of emotions being tossed around, the Barry Bonds trial has come to a dramatic end. Although the outcome does not state for a fact that Bonds used steroids, he is still now considered a convicted felon.
On Wednesday, after many days of deliberation, the jury found Bonds guilty of obstruction of justice. They said that in his trial nearly 7 years ago, when being questioned, he failed to answer the question about receiving drugs in a 'yes' or 'no' manner. As for the charges suggesting that Bonds made false statements to the grand jury in his Dec. 2003 case, Judge Susan Illston declared a mistrial. Bonds will not be able to be charged with making false statements about receiving steroids and human growth hormones under oath with double jeopardy playing a role in the trial.
According to ESPN,
Amber, a 19-year-old blonde woman who was the youngest juror, said the final votes were 8-4 to acquit Bonds of lying about steroids and 9-3 to acquit him on lying about HGH use. The panel voted 11-1 to convict him of getting an injection from someone other than his doctor, with one woman holding out, she said.
Jurors decided to convict Bonds on the obstruction count on Tuesday; on Wednesday they decided they could not come to unanimous decisions on the rest.
In my opinion, this whole fiasco sends the message to athletes and fans alike, that people with the appropriate amount of money, an endless supply of resources, and the fame that is associated with their name can make any big problem seem like nothing more than a misdemeanor. Bonds broke the most basic MLB rule there is, any use of steroids is against the leagues policies. Yet with all the evidence that was provided to show that he had used them knowingly, he got off with lying under oath. He is receiving absolutely no punishment for the actual usage of steroids; and why is this? Merely because he is the current record holder for the most homeruns; it is absurd.
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