Bonds' perjury case delayed as government seeks new charges

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SAN FRANCISCO -- The perjury case against Barry Bonds was put on hold for three months Friday, with prosecutors telling a federal judge they plan to obtain a new indictment against baseball's home run king.

U.S. District Judge Susan Illston had told prosecutors on Feb. 29 to fix their original indictment because it lumped multiple allegations into too few counts. Illston said that prosecutors needed to drop some of the allegations from the indictment or add more charges.

At a brief court hearing Friday, assistant U.S. attorney Matt Parrella didn't say when the government will ask a grand jury for a new indictment. Illston ordered the sides to return to court June 6, making it likely any trail would not start before 2009.

Eight people connected to the Bay Area Laboratory Co-Operative (BALCO) have pleaded guilty, including track star Marion Jones, who began a six-month sentence in federal prison on March 7. Jones pleaded guilty to lying to federal investigators when she denied using performance-enhancing drugs and admitted lying to investigators about her association with a check-fraud scheme.

The trial of Tammy Thomas, an elite cyclist also accused of perjury, is scheduled to begin Monday.

Bonds was indicted in November on four counts of perjury and one count of obstruction of justice, stemming from 2003 grand-jury testimony in which he denied knowingly taking illegal performance-enhancing drugs.

Bonds was let go by the San Francisco Giants. The 43-year-old outfielder remains a free agent and wants to play this year.

Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press

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