Roger Clemens Indicted

Roger Clemens was indicted today on six counts of lying to Congress relating back to the testimony he gave to the House Committee in 2008. Among those six counts are two counts for perjury, three for making false statements, and one for obstruction of justice. This is another sad step in the life of what might be one of the top three pitchers of all time. There is some confusion over whether Clemens was forced to testify before Congress in 2008, or whether it was done voluntarily. Former Congressman Tom Davis states that Clemens willingly testified, even as he was warned against doing so by several committee members. Meanwhile, Clemens’ attorney Rusty Hardin claims Clemens was pressured into testifying before Congress, and really had no choice but to do so.

It will be very interesting to see how this plays out. Because the government screwed up the Barry Bonds perjury case, you can bet that they will do everything in their power to make sure Clemens is convicted, to set an example for future hearings before Congress. If convicted, it is quite possible that Clemens can spend time in jail, although it is unlikely to be a lengthy sentence. There are also reports that Clemens was offered a plea deal by the government, where in exchange for pleading guilty, he would avoid any jail time. However, Clemens adamantly denies ever taking steroids or HGH, and refused to plead guilty.

It seems this Clemens stubbornness is what prevented from taking the deal, as well as it is what put him in this position. Whether he was pressured to testify or did so voluntarily, he was not subpoenaed, and had every right to refuse. However, it was likely his stubbornness that made him believe he could stand before Congress, deny taking any performance-enhancing drugs, attempt to clear his name, and the law couldn’t touch him. Don’t get me wrong, it is not certain that he took steroids or HGH, but with the amount of witnesses coming out against him, including former friend Andy Pettitte, and the uncharacteristic statistics he put up at a time in his life when a person’s statistics generally fall significantly, there is a lot of evidence against him.