The wife of disgraced ex-Yankee ace Roger Clemens will have to spend most of her time in the clubhouse — barred from the courtroom at his perjury trial, the judge in the case ruled yesterday.
The “Rocket,” whose wife, Debbie, plans to testify in his defense, had sought an exception to a federal rule that bars witnesses from watching the proceedings when they’re not on the stand.
Prosecutors objected on the grounds that Mrs. Clemens’ testimony could be influenced if she saw the case against her hubby unfold, and Washington, DC, federal Judge Reggie Wal ton largely agreed.
Walton yesterday banned Mrs. Clemens from attending opening statements or watching any witnesses whose testimony might affect her own.
But Walton said Mrs. Clemens could provide her husband with moral support in the courtroom during any unrelated testimony and could sit among his supporters after she finishes offering evidence.
As both sides prepared for this morning’s scheduled start of jury selection, Walton also said he’d probably balk at letting an All-Star lineup of witnesses tell jurors that they got steroids from Clemens’ former strength trainer, Brian McNamee, the key prosecution witness.
Walton said Clemens — charged with lying to Congress in 2008 when he denied using performance-enhancing drugs — could be “unduly prejudiced” by the testimony from ex-teammates Andy Pettitte, Chuck Knoblauch and Mike Stanton.
Walton also indicated he might bar Clemens’ lawyers from questioning McNamee — who cut a deal to become the prosecution’s star witness — about uncharged 2001 rape allegations against the trainer.
Clemens’ lawyers plan to portray McNamee as a “congenital” liar, and they contend that the incident — after which McNamee was fired by the Yankees — also gave him a financial motive to fabricate evidence that he had injected Clemens with illegal drugs.
Meanwhile, a problem obtaining a recording of Clemens’ deposition by congressional staffers threatened to delay opening statements set for next week.