A reunion of sorts will take place this morning between former star baseball pitcher Roger Clemens and former trainer Brian McNamee as Act 2 of the Clemens steroid case goes before a U.S. district court.
The case of United States vs. William R. Clemens was set to return to court Monday with McNamee testifying against the former pitcher, a critical moment for the prosecution as it seeks to convict Clemens of perjury.
McNamee, Clemens' former strength coach who said he injected the seven-time Cy Young Award winner with steroids and human growth hormone in 1998, 2000 and 2001, takes the stand as the trial moves into its fifth week. Clemens is accused of lying when he told Congress in 2008 he never used those drugs.
PolicyMic will be providing LIVE updates of the day’s proceedings.
UPDATE: 9:30 a.m. The Trial Begins: According to the Associated Press, much is riding on McNamee's testimony, especially after the government's other key witness, pitcher Andy Pettitte, wavered in his appearance two weeks ago. Pettitte, a former Clemens teammate, testified that Clemens said he had used HGH - only to say under cross-examination he might have misunderstood their conversation.
Clemens' lawyers have said they will contend that the items saved by McNamee have been tainted and contaminated because they were stored so haphazardly. They refer to the collection as a "mixed-up hodgepodge of garbage.''
Clemens insists that McNamee injected him with vitamin B12 and the anesthetic lidocaine.
Trial Background:
On August 19, 2010, a federal grand jury at the U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., indicted Clemens on six felony counts involving perjury, false statements and obstruction of Congress. On August 30 he pleaded not guilty, and a trial date was set for April 5, 2011. On December 9, it was announced that the trial would be pushed back until July 2011. The trial began on July 13, 2011 but a mistrial was declared on the second day of testimony due to prosecutorial misconduct. The retrial began on April 16, 2012
Clemens was alleged by the Mitchell Report to have used anabolic steroids during his late career, mainly because of testimony given by his former trainer, Brian McNamee. Clemens firmly denied these allegations under oath before Congress, leading congressional leaders to refer his case to the Justice Department on suspicions of perjury. On May 12, 2009, he broke a long silence to speak out on ESPN against American Icon: The Fall of Roger Clemens and the Rise of Steroids in America's Pastime, a book by four New York Daily News reporters that claims Clemens used performance-enhancing drugs during his career.
