The Barry Bonds perjury and obstruction of justice trial is reaching its climax as the two sides are presenting their closing arguments to the jury today. The government wrapped up their closing at 11:10, with the defense starting up after a 15 minute break. When the defense wraps up (an expected tag-team between Allen Ruby and Cris Arguendas) the government will have the opportunity to provide a final closing rebuttal. The jury will then receive final instructions and begin deliberations.
The government’s closing argument actually hit on the most logical point of the trial that goes in their favor. It was a point that no witness could really make, which is a bit unfortunate for them. AUSA Nedrow hammered home this point: Barry Bonds was making millions of dollars a year based on physical performance and he claimed to not know what was going into his body. As I mentioned before, it’s hard for me to believe he was duped so easily into thinking he was taking flaxseed oil and an arthritic balm.
It remains to be seen how the jury will take this issue of logic. Much of the government’s case was fairly disastrous, with Kathy Haskins being the lone standout. If they can somehow turn her testimony into sufficient evidence to get Bonds on more than Count Two, that would be a miracle along the lines of Kirk Gibson’s home run off Dennis Eckersley.