Roger Clemens, His Ego, His Indictment, and the Chance of a Called Strike Three
With all the fast and furious news about former Red Sox, Astro, Blue Jay and Yankee star pitcher Roger Clemens being indicted on perjury charges, we wanted to take a moment to calm down and reflect. Once again, let's repeat that Clemens has been found guilty of nothing and maintains his innocence of all of the federal felony charges against him. But, upon some thinking, we wonder if he knows that the count against him is 0 and 2. Let's go to the instant legal replay.
Strike One: Clemens, under no obligation (and no subpoena) chose to testify in front of Congress where he story fell apart after his former trainer, Brian McNamee swore that no only did he inject Clemens with steroids, he even kept the needles. Making it worse for Clemens, two-time Astro and Yankee pitcher Andy Pettite (another admitted PED user) confirmed McNamee's account and also said Clemens admitted to him that he used PED's.
Strike Two: Clemens sues McNamee for defamination. The Rocket's case quickly backfires when a judge decided that it had no merit and was dismissed faster then you can say "no Hall of Fame."
And the Wind-Up: Clemens, throwing caution to the wind, calls a Boston radio station to give an interview (besides his tweets) and says that he will have "his day" in court. That is Clemens' right but their is a chance he will lose. Given, Clemens recent history in legal proceedings and the proof the government may have, a called Strike Three could mean that he will be the best player on the federal prison's softball team (for at leat 15 to 21 months).
My name is Christopher Fusco. I am the managing partner of Callahan & Fusco, LLC with offices in New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania.