WASHINGTON (AFP) – The judge in former baseball star Roger Clemens' perjury trial declared a mistrial Thursday after ruling that prosecutors violated his orders regarding the handling of evidence.
US District Judge Reggie Walton said he made the decision because Clemens could not be assured a fair trial when prosecutors blundered by going against his orders and showing inadmissible evidence to jurors on just the second day of testimony.
"There are rules that we play by and those rules are designed to make sure both sides receive a fair trial," Walton said.
"The ability with Mr. Clemens with this jury to get a fair trial with this jury would be very difficult if not impossible."
Prosecutors then asked the judge if the jury could simply be instructed to disregard what they had been told but Walton replied, "I don't see how I un-ring the bell."
Walton then scheduled a September 2 hearing to decide whether to have a new trial.
Clemens, a seven-time Cy Young Award winner as his league's top pitcher, is charged with perjury, false statements and obstruction of Congress for telling a US House of Representatives committee under oath that he never used steroids or human growth hormone in his Major League Baseball career.
Thursday's drama began when the judge interrupted the prosecution's playing of a video of Clemens' testimony before the Congressional hearings three years ago. Clemens is accused of lying during that testimony.
Walton was angered that a video, which included a clip referring to Laura Pettitte, the wife of Clemens' former New York Yankee teammate, was shown to jurors. He then asked the jury to leave the courtroom.
"I think that a first-year law student would know that you can't bolster the credibility of one witness with clearly inadmissible evidence," Walton said.
Andy Pettitte says that in 1999 or 2000 Clemens told him that he used human growth hormone. Andy Pettitte then told his wife about the conversation. Clemens says his former teammate misheard his words.
Prosecutors had wanted to call Laura Pettitte as a key witness but Walton wasn't pleased with the idea because she had not spoken directly to Clemens herself.
After the video clip was shown, Walton brought lawyers from both sides to the front of the courtroom. He noted that the case has already cost a lot of American taxpayer money.
"Government counsel should have been more cautious," he said.
Clemens showed no emotion when the mistrial was announced and did not speak publicly after leaving the courtroom.
His lawyer patted him on the back as the decision was made and he shook hands with security guards and hugged a couple of court workers as he left the room. Once outside, Clemens signed autographs for fans.
Clemens, 48, was named in the Mitchell Report in December 2007 as one of 86 players who took performance-enhancing drugs but he steadfastly denied the allegations and pushed for a hearing before Congress.
Clemens, nicknamed "Rocket", is one of only four pitchers to have have made more than 4,000 strike-outs during his career.
He won the World Series twice with the New York Yankees in 1999 and 2000. He also played for Boston Red Sox, Toronto Blue Jays and Houston Astros during his 23-year career.
This marks the second time the past six months a prominent American baseball player involved in a performance-enhancing case has been the subject of a mistrial.
In April, Barry Bonds, who holds the MLB's all-time home run record, had a mistrial declared on three false-statement charges he was facing when jurors couldn't agree on a verdict. Bonds was convicted on a lesser charge of obstruction of justice.
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