Sports In the Courts Blog : New York Attorneys & Lawyers Specializing in Sports Law & Legal Analysis

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Judge Walton was very angry that the prosecutors, in the first Roger Clemens trial, violated an evidentiary causing a mistrial. However, he cooled down enough to make that right decision that case against Clemens should not be dismissed because of this inadvertent error. Apparently, the judge must have a very busy trial calendar because he set the new Clemens trial date for April 17, 2012.

Now in the next 6 months or so, what can be done to get rid of this ill-fated criminal case? We have seen that Clemens is sticking to his story, no matter how many facts he misremembers. But he is facing serious criminal jeopardy for the alleged crime of lying to Congress and if he thinks he won't be convicted because he's a famous baseball player, he might want to give Barry Bonds a call.

At the same time if you are a government prosecutor, this may not be the case you want on your desk. The judge already isn't too thrilled with the prosecution. Let's face it, a full out criminal prosecution of Roger Clemens cannot be a major priority for a federal government (on the brink of being broke) with terrorism to deal with.

So can there be a way of another expensive trial for the Rocket and the government? Roger Clemens made his fame being competitor but maybe he needs to avoid this "contest". Under the federal rules, the Court can allow a defendant (like Clemens) to enter a plea of "no contest." Under this type of arrangement, the Clemens would not be pleading "guilty' and the government would not be allowing him to go unpunished. For the Court's purposes, it will consider Clemens to be guilty and punish him. However, the Court's sentence could be part of an agreement between the prosecution and Clemens' lawyers (i.e. Roger doesn't go to jail).

I doubt this will happen but it may be the only way to avoid a long trial with an unknown ending which could include prison.