Jury selected in Barry Bonds perjury case
Former Major League Baseball player Barry Bonds arrives for the first day of his perjury trial in San Francisco. (March 21, 2011) Credit: Getty
SAN FRANCISCO -- A jury has been selected in the Barry Bonds perjury trial.
After more than five hours of questioning Monday, prosecutors and Bonds' lawyers agreed on 12 jurors and two alternates from a pool of approximately 100.
Bonds, 46, played for the Giants when he hit a record 73 homers in 2001 and when he broke Hank Aaron's career home-run record of 755. He hasn't played since 2007, the year he was indicted.
Bonds has pleaded not guilty to one count of obstruction and four charges of lying to a grand jury when he said he never knowingly took performance-enhancing drugs.
The jury includes four men and eight women. The two alternates are women.
When he initially entered his plea in December 2007, Bonds was met by a huge crowd of media, fans and others as television helicopters hovered overhead. Much of that attention was missing Monday, when few fans saw Bonds walk into the federal courthouse.
While Bonds sat with his star-studded legal team at the defense table, Jeff Novitzky, the federal agent who led the investigation of the Bay Area Laboratory Co-Operative (BALCO), joined the prosecutors.
Opening statements were expected Tuesday, and the case is expected to last 2-4 weeks.
One potential juror was dismissed because of his allegiance to the Giants.
"I'm a Barry Bonds fan and I'm a huge SF Giants fan. It's my life. I don't know if I could judge Mr. Bonds after providing me with so much entertainment," prospective juror No. 22 wrote on a questionnaire Thursday. "I don't think I could find him guilty."
