Barry Bonds: Humbled, thankful conviction overturned
SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) -- A federal appeals court in San Francisco on Wednesday overturned former San Francisco Giants slugger Barry Bonds' conviction for obstructing justice in 2003 testimony before a grand jury investigating steroid distribution.
A special 11-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said by a 10-1 vote that there was insufficient evidence that a statement alleged by prosecutors to be misleading was material to the grand jury probe.
The obstruction verdict was Bonds' only conviction in a prosecution that began in 2007. At his trial in U.S. District Court in San Francisco in 2011, a jury deadlocked on three other charges that he lied to the grand jury.
Victor Conte is the founder and CEO of SNAC Systems Inc. He was sent to prison for manufacturing steroids and says he is happy Bonds can now get on with his life.
"There have been tens of millions of dollars spent on this case. I think there are higher and better uses of the federal taxpayer dollars. I'm glad to see it come to a close," Conte said.
Bonds issued a statement, saying in part: "I am humbled and truly thankful for the outcome as well as the opportunity our judicial system affords to all individuals to seek justice."
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Bay City News contributed to this report.
