Projo Sports Blog

By Laurel Brubaker Calkins
Bloomberg

Roger Clemens asked a Houston judge to reconsider his dismissal of most of the pitcher's slander claims against trainer Brian McNamee over steroid-abuse allegations.

In papers filed in Houston federal court late yesterday, Clemens asked U.S. District Judge Keith Ellison to reconsider his finding that McNamee's statements to congressional investigators deserved immunity because he testified under the threat of prosecution if he didn't implicate Clemens.

Ellison's ruling "unwittingly gives prosecutors the power to grant absolute immunity to individuals who maliciously and falsely make public statements that accuse another of a crime,'' Clemens' lawyer Rusty Hardin said in the filing. "It effectively permits the government to try individuals in the court of public opinion and thereby destroy their reputation and livelihood regardless of whether the government ever intends to charge the person with a crime.''

A lawyer for McNamee, Richard Emery, said the request to reconsider was "an insult to the court.''

"It's sort of like saying, 'Please, Judge,''' Emery said in a telephone interview.

Clemens won seven Cy Young awards as his league's best pitcher during his 24-year career, more than anyone in Major League Baseball history. He last pitched for the New York Yankees in 2007.

Perjury Investigation

Clemens, 46, is the subject of a perjury investigation after being accused of lying about his use of banned substances to a Congressional panel in February 2008. Clemens was named a steroid abuser in a December 2007 report by former U.S. Senator George Mitchell, who was investigating the use of performance-enhancing drugs in professional baseball.

McNamee, Clemens's former athletic trainer, claimed he injected Clemens with steroids and human-growth hormone multiple times between 1998 and 2001, before they were banned by MLB. Clemens has repeatedly denied using drugs and yesterday renewed his request for a jury to decide whether he or McNamee is telling the truth.

Clemens wants jurors to award damages if they find McNamee's statements harmed his reputation.

Clemens also asked the judge to allow him to sue McNamee for statements the trainer made to his former teammate Andy Pettitte in Houston between 1999 and 2004. Pettitte, who has admitted his own use of human-growth hormone to recover from an injury, filed an affidavit last year saying McNamee told him on two occasions that Clemens used performance-enhancing drugs.

The case is Clemens v. McNamee, 4:08-cv-00471, in the U.S. District Court, Southern District of Texas (Houston).

 Tags  Brian McNamee Roger Clemens steroids

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