Will Bonds stand up and testify this week?

THE DAILY

SAN FRANCISCO -- Barry Bonds got a chance Tuesday to talk to the jury hearing his perjury trial in federal court – not in person but through his 2003 grand jury testimony, which was read aloud in the courtroom.

The question is, will the real Barry Bonds stand up and testify this week?

It's not likely, although defense attorney Allen Ruby left open the possibility that Bonds, baseball's career home run leader, will take the stand - along with perhaps three defense witnesses.

It might not be necessary. The reading of his grand jury testimony by two court employees - one who played Bonds and the other who played either a prosecutor or a grand juror - was a strong statement that Bonds never spoke about steroids to his personal trainer.

Bonds insisted he trusted Greg Anderson, his trainer and friend since childhood, and never asked what was contained in the substances known as "the cream" and "the clear" when Anderson came to the ballpark and administered them to him.

Asked if he felt comfortable in saying he had never taken steroids, Bonds answered, "I feel comfortable, very comfortable."

The reading, which took more than 90 minutes to complete, ended the prosecution's case.

Judge Susan Illston sent the jury - the juror who was out Monday with gallstones had returned — home for the day, allowing the defense to make a series of motions before calling on its witnesses Wednesday. Closing arguments could begin as early as Thursday, with the jury beginning deliberations Friday.

The defense scored a significant victory earlier Tuesday when Illston denied a motion by prosecutors to hear a secret tape made by Steve Hoskins, Bonds' former friend and business partner, of a conversation he had in 2003 with the player's physician, Dr. Arthur Ting.

Ruby called the recording a "miracle tape" because Hoskins had testified he thought he recorded the conversation but couldn't find it and assumed the tape recorder hadn't worked. The defense objected to the tape being offered as evidence, saying it was illegally recorded and should have been given to the court at the start of the trial.

During his testimony in the trial's first week, Hoskins said he spoke with Ting about 50 times regarding Bonds and steroids. Ting, however, insisted he and Hoskins discussed the subject only once, when Hoskins asked Ting for medical literature about steroids and tendon injuries.

Prosecutors had hoped to show that the newly discovered tape demonstrated that Hoskins and Ting had indeed spoken about steroids, but Illston said the tape was "barely intelligible" and could raise questions about its authenticity.

She also instructed the defense not to tell the jury that Hoskins is not a credible witness because he was unable to provide a copy of the tape after saying it existed.

According to a transcript of the conversation, Hoskins told Ting that agents had raided BALCO, the Bay Area Laboratory Co-Operative at the center of the steroid scandal that was owned by Victor Conte.

"You know Victor?" Hoskins asked Ting.

"Yeah," Ting said.

Ting also said, "You know they all, they all know who he is. Victor's the one who called me about (unintelligible). Bonds..."

Bonds faces four counts of lying to a grand jury about using steroids and one count of obstruction. In the transcript that was read Tuesday, Bonds said he and Anderson worked out together but never discussed steroids. Bonds said never had any interest in the subject.

"I don't want to know anything," he said. "That's exactly right."