Roger Clemens and his lawyers were able to convince the court to grant them an extension so that they could review the documents presented by the prosecution. The trial was re-scheduled on July by Judge Reggie Walton. To avoid giving comments on the case, Judge Walton imposed a gag order to both camps since August 23. This will prevent any speculations and personal comments on the merits of the case.

The perjury case of Clemens has lured the attention of some legal experts especially on the evidences presented by the prosecution. One of the critical physical evidences that were used by the government was the alleged syringes used to inject steroids on the baseball player. These were provided by Brian McNamee, the former trainer of Roger Clemens. McNamee alleged that he injected Clemens with steroids and human growth hormone in the span of 4 years from 1998 to 2002. The trainer claimed that he injected Clemens at least 13 times in the player’s apartment in 2001.

Rusty Hardin, the lawyer of Clemens, said before that the syringes, bloody gauze and steroid vials were a bunch of junk because it was stored in unsanitized place. The drug paraphernalia were turned over to the federal investigators by McNamee in 2008. It is expected that the defense will attack the validity and reliability of these evidences.

McNamee Hid Syringes in the Basement

The New York Daily News detailed how McNamee stored the used syringes, gauze and the vials at his home. McNamee put these materials in a Miller Lite can and Ziploc bag and stored them in a FedEx box. The box was kept in a large cedar closet in the basement. Textbooks and baseball bats were also found in the closet which was usually locked.

However, the package was moved sometime in 2007 when McNamee’s wife relocated it to an upstairs bedroom. The trainer retrieved that package on January 8, 2008 to counter the allegations against him by Roger Clemens.

What Experts Say

The NY Daily News interviewed some legal experts about their views on the significance of these evidences in the steroid perjury trial of Clemens. Peter Keane, a law professor at Golden Gate University, said that these needles could be used to prove that Clemens was doping. “Any time you have physical evidence, scientific evidence, evidence that an expert can examine and say it says this or that, that’s the most powerful evidence a prosecutor can have,” Keane said. “Jurors can throw out witness testimony, because they believe a witness has an ax to grind, but physical evidence can be very conclusive,” the professor added.

On the other hand, the evidences could also be used by the defense to weaken the prosecution’s argument. According to Matthew Rosengart, the case of Clemens could be compared to the case of O.J. Simpson. The defense was able to convince the jury by attacking the credibility of the evidence.

“The government will have to prove these syringes are the same ones used to shoot up Roger Clemens, and they will have to rely on McNamee to do so,” said Rosengart, who is also a former federal prosecutor and is now connected with a law firm. “They will raise a lot of questions - why did he sit on this evidence for so many years? Does he have an ax to grind with Clemens? The defense will throw everything at the government to prove that the syringes were somehow doctored,” Rosengart said.

The fact that Hardin asked the court for a few more months, it is expected that they will try to question the admissibility and credibility of the materials provided by Brian McNamee. The real battle of Roger Clemens will just begin in July.

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