Roger Clemens appeared before United States District Judge Reggie B. Walton on Monday at 2PM and entered a ‘Not Guilty’ plea. The Judge set the trial date at April 5, 2011 – although that date is not permanent and the trial may be delayed due to the amount of evidence available.
Assistant United States Attorney Steven J. Durham gave the Clemens attorneys a 34 page memo outlining all the evidence.
The New York Times reported in 2009 that tests conducted on the evidence then in hand on those materials contained traces of performance-enhancing drugs and the Washington Post reported that the materials contained Clemens’ DNA.
Clemens had arrived early -10 AM – at the Federal Court House to have his fingerprints and his mug shot taken since he and his wife had an afternoon golf date. Sure enough, after the plea, he moved quickly to the Cadillac Escalade which brought him to the airport where his private plane was waiting to take him to Myrtle Beach.
Now that the process has begun, Roger will notice some changes – he cannot leave the United States and must check in with the Court every two weeks.
Sometimes it appears that the wheels of justice turn slowly, but at this level of the court system, they need to. The hearing accelerated Clemens’ fall from grace and led to his perjury indictment.
Even if the army of attorneys Clemens is paying can save his skin, the jury trial he has now demanded will turn his life upside down as former associates – like Andy Pettitte – are drawn to testify.
The indictment against Clemens issued August 19th lists one count of obstruction of Congress, three counts of making false statements and two counts of perjury.
If convicted, Clemens could be the first baseball star to face prison time for his role in the steroid era.
