Barry Bonds convicted of obstructing justice

SAN FRANCISCO, (Reuters) – A U.S. jury convicted  Barry Bonds today of one count of obstructing justice  but deadlocked on three other charges of whether baseball’s  home run king lied to a grand jury investigating the use of  steroids in sports.
Bonds, fighting for his reputation, sat impassively as the  jury was dismissed. His attorney, Allen Ruby, said he would  file a motion to dismiss the conviction. Bonds faces up to 10  years in prison on the conviction but would likely receive far  less.
U.S. Attorney Melinda Haag said the government would decide  “as soon as possible” whether to seek a retrial on the  deadlocked perjury counts. U.S. District Judge Susan Illston  called a conference for May 20 to discuss the next moves in the  case.
The trial is one of the last strands of a wide-ranging  federal investigation into the use of steroids in sports.
Many fans and sportswriters have long believed that Bonds,  who holds Major League Baseball’s career and single-season home  run records, took performance-enhancing drugs.
The steroids scandal has tarnished some of baseball’s  biggest stars in recent years.
“(The verdict) basically confirms their belief that Bonds  had taken shortcuts,” said Robert Boland, a professor at New  York University’s Tisch Center for Sports Management.
“With Barry Bonds convicted and Roger Clemens likely coming  to trial, there is some potential harm to the history of  baseball. And the history of baseball is more valued than in  any other sport,” he said.
Clemens, who was one of baseball’s greatest pitchers, has  been indicted on charges of lying to the U.S. Congress when he  denied using performance-enhancing drugs. He denies ever using  steroids.