Roger Clemens Found Not Guilty

Most people are in agreement Major League Baseball has historically not done enough to weed out performance enhancing drugs, but as to whether the federal government was right/ is right to get involved, there’s no consensus. In 2008, Congress held a nationally televised hearing in which it asked numerous players whether they had doped to gain a competitive advantage. Roger Clemens categorically denied the charges, but after his strength and conditioning coach claimed he injected the Cy Young winner, the government filed two counts of perjury, three counts of making false statements and one count of obstruction.

The first time Clemens went to court, a mistrial was declared after the prosecution played a video deemed inadmissible. The second time around ended this morning, and the jury found the pitcher not guilty on all charges. Last year, a similar trial concluded with Barry Bonds only being convicted of one charge, and now the government will be forced to reevaluate whether more trials are even a good idea moving into the future.

According to ESPN, there were tears of joy from the entire Clemens family after the verdict was read today. The hurler himself took time to thank all his many teammates who texted and called him with messages of encouragement.

It’s unclear what this might mean for Clemens’ historical legacy. No doubt some writers will point to the verdict as evidence he didn’t dope, while others will completely discount the proceedings. Regardless, it’s a big victory for Clemens and a bit of a black eye for the government.