WASHINGTON — The parties in the Roger Clemens perjury trial Monday settled on 12 jurors and four alternates who are mostly female and not baseball fans.
There were 10 women and six men. They included a Nuclear Regulatory Commission analyst who grew up down the street from a New Jersey house rented by Yankee Mickey Mantle and Roger Maris; a supermarket cashier; an occupational therapist who once saw a game at old Griffith Stadium; an environmental lawyer who ran track in high school; a roughly 80-year-old retired college professor who was born in Germany; and a Treasury Department official.
It was not immediately clear which ones were the alternates.
The legendary pitcher is accused of lying to Congress in 2008, when the baseball star testified that he never took steroids or human growth hormone.
On another topic, U.S. District Judge Reggie Walton ruled that former Clemens teammate Andy Pettitte will not be allowed to testify that he got his human growth hormone from Brian McNamee, the former Clemens trainer who says he provided Clemens with steroids and HGH. The judge said that would be prejudicial toward Clemens.
Clemens arrived in court with his wife, Debbie, who had not been allowed to attend his first trial during jury selection because she was to be a witness in her husband’s defense. This time she stayed for that process.
Wearing a pinstriped suit, white shirt and silver-striped tie, the seven-time Cy Young Award winner took notes as his lawyers, the prosecutors and judge debated what evidence could be introduced.
Earlier Monday, the judge considered whether the defense can challenge the legitimacy of the congressional hearings. He said that if that happened, “it opens up the door to a lot of information that would not otherwise come into evidence” from the government, including other players who admitted using performance-enhancing drugs. He said he didn’t want to force the government to fight with “one hand behind their back.”
Clemens chief lawyer Rusty Hardin said it was premature for Walton to rule until Hardin raised questions about the hearings. Hardin also said he wasn’t challenging the legitimacy of the hearings, only their focus on Clemens’ drug use, which he called a “show trial.” Walton deferred a ruling on the matter.
Walton hopes to get to the first witness in the case Tuesday.
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