Clemens’ lawyer mounts attack on McNamee

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This article was published 17/05/2012 (5242 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

WASHINGTON — Roger Clemens’ lawyer toyed with Brian McNamee’s memory and attacked him from several directions at once. The attorney even put an easel next to the witness with the words: “MISTAKE. BAD MEMORY. LIE.” Eventually, there came the inevitable question: “Do you sometimes just make stuff up?”

McNamee has frequently taken long pauses before answering questions in three days on the witness stand, but he didn’t hesitate this time. He leaned into the microphone and said softly but assuredly: “I didn’t make it up.”

Clemens’ chief accuser was on the stand for two hours of aggressive cross-examination Wednesday on one of the most important days — perhaps the most important — in the perjury trial of the seven-time Cy Young Award winning pitcher. Clemens is charged with lying when he told Congress in 2008 that he never used steroids or human growth hormone.

McNamee has testified he injected Clemens with both, and the credibility of Clemens’ former friend and longtime strength coach will no doubt be the No. 1 topic when the jury starts deliberating the case.

Going for style over substance, Clemens lawyer Rusty Hardin was as colourful as his outfit — bright orange tie, cream-coloured suit — and continued his practice of mispronouncing the witness’ name as mac-nah-MAY instead of MAC-nah-mee. He skipped from topic to topic without warning, often confusing McNamee while trying to sow seeds of doubt in the jurors’ minds.

McNamee, who will return to the stand today, alternated between fidgety and focused. At times he looked curiously at the courtroom ceiling, draped his arm around his chair, or leaned forward to scratch an itchy foot while Hardin was asking questions. McNamee sometimes seemed perplexed by simple yes-or-no questions and stumbled through an answer about his birthday.

Other times, he was more firm and direct. He complained when Hardin asked him a convoluted, multipart question: “Which one do you want me to answer?”

“Pick one,” Hardin replied.

McNamee says he gave Clemens injections of performance-enhancing drugs in 1998, 2000 and 2001.

— The Associated Press