SAN FRANCISCO —Barry Bonds stood in a hushed federal courtroom Friday morning with his hands clasped behind his back and pleaded not guilty to five felony charges of perjury and obstruction of justice.
Flanked by a newly formed team of six attorneys and accompanied by his wife, Liz, he simply nodded when United States Magistrate Judge Maria-Elena James asked if he understood the charges. The entire proceeding before two judges took less than 20 minutes. He said few words, giving his name and his age, which is 43. His new lead criminal defense attorney, Allen Ruby, said Mr. Bonds would plead not guilty to all the charges.
Mr. Ruby told the judge that he “may well bring a motion to dismiss the indictment for facial defects.” Then United States District Judge Susan Illston took the bench to set a date for the next hearing, which will be Feb. 7.
After court, Mr. Ruby told the mass of reporters, “Today, Barry Bonds is innocent. He has trust and faith in the justice system. He will defend these charges. He is confident of a good outcome.”
The dramatic appearance, Mr. Bonds’s first in public since criminal charges were filed three weeks ago, came four years after Mr. Bonds gave sworn testimony to a grand jury in which he denied he used performance-enhancing drugs during the greatest home run spree in baseball history.
No comments:
Post a Comment