The government (or prosecution if you’d prefer) wrapped up their opening statement, lasting approximately 45 minutes, beginning at 9:05 and wrapping up at 9:50. While Assistant US Attorney Matt Parrella was a bit choppy at times in his opening statement, he basically was there to spoon-feed the jury. He took them on a step-by-step journey that basically was a cliff-notes version of Game of Shadows.
He began his opening statement with a history of the BALCO investigation conducted by former IRS agent Jeff Novitzky. This was the cliff notes of Game of Shadows that most anybody could recite if you’ve read the book. Once he got through the BALCO discussion he went into the side effects of steroids. This is where we heard about witnesses like Giants trainer Stan Conte and Kimberly Bell, who will discuss the physical changes in Bonds.
We also learned a bit about the various ways performance-enhancing drugs can be administered. This is pertinent as we will reportedly hear testimony from individuals who saw Bonds getting specific injections or heard it discussed. Of course, a lot of evidence was tossed as hearsay, so it will affect what we get to hear throughout the coming month.
The government wrapped up by going into the specific statements Bonds made to the grand jury. Parrella went through each statement and discussed the witnesses and testimony that would prove Bonds lied to the grand jury.
The defense is about to get started and it will be an interesting comparison in styles. AUSA Parrella was a bit choppy and sort of all over the place at times. He found his groove whenever he was making hard comments about Bonds, but otherwise it was not the greatest performance. Bonds has a big money team and I’d have to imagine they’ll be fairly solid. We’ll see what they bring to the table in a few minutes.
After the defense concludes, we’ll either start the direct testimony of Jeff Novitzky or the court will deal with Greg Anderson. Although Anderson is a key to the government’s case, he continually refuses to testify. At some point today he’ll appear before the court and continue to refuse to testify, thus likely resulting in a contempt charge.