WASHINGTON — A federal judge in Roger Clemens’ perjury case declared a mistrial today after noticing that the prosecution entered evidence he had said was inadmissible.
The ruling by US District Judge Reggie Walton could mean that the former Yankee pitcher won’t have to face another trial. Walton set a Sept. 2 hearing date to determine whether double jeopardy is an issue.
The mistrial ruling came after prosecutors showed a video of Clemens’ congressional testimony. In it, Rep. Elijah Cummings referred to a conversation Andy Pettitte, a key witness against Clemens, had with his wife, Laura. Pettitte has said Clemens told him he used human growth hormone and that he told his wife about the conversation the same day it happened.
Walton had said he wasn’t inclined to have Laura Pettitte testify since she didn’t speak directly to Clemens.
When the prosecution played the video today, Walton interrupted it and removed the jury.
After about 40 minutes in his chambers, he returned and declared the mistrial.
“I don’t like making orders and lawyers not abiding by them,” Walton said to Assistant US attorney Steven Durham. “This clearly runs afoul of my pre-trial rules.”
“I think a first year law student would know that you can’t bolster the credibility of a witness with clearly inadmissible evidence,” he added.
Walton told the jury that “there are rules that we play by and those rules are designed to make sure both sides receive a fair trial,” adding that such ground rules are critically important when a person’s liberty is at stake.
He said that because prosecutors broke his rules, “the ability with Mr. Clemens with this jury to get a fair trial with this jury would be very difficult if not impossible.”
When the jury was dismissed, some members looked at Clemens and he nodded back at them.
Clemens, a seven-time Cy Young award winner, was charged with federal perjury, obstruction and making false statements and faced possible prison time if convicted. The 48-year-old was accused of lying to Congress in 2008 by declaring under oath that he had never used steroids during his career.
Clemens declined to comment after the ruling. But as he walked outside after the ruling, he did sign several autographs. His attorney, Rusty Hardin, would only say that it was “a beautiful day” and added that he had hoped the trial would go forward.
With Newscore and AP