Miller Lite testimony more filling

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 18/05/2012 (5243 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

WASHINGTON — During another seven gruelling hours of cross-examination that frustrated all sides, Roger Clemens’ accuser explained the evidence he kept in a beer can — and why his story about it has changed.

Brian McNamee was on the stand Thursday for a fourth day in the perjury trial of the seven-time Cy Young Award-winning pitcher, holding firm to his testimony that he injected Clemens with steroids from 1998 to 2001 and human growth hormone in 2000.

But Clemens’ longtime strength coach again conceded that his memory of some details has evolved over the years, and that he initially told some lies during the drugs-in-baseball investigation conducted by federal agents and former Sen. George Mitchell.

Whether the jurors were still keeping track is another matter: They again expressed concern about the agonizingly slow pace of a trial that still has weeks to go, and the judge opined that Clemens’ lawyer was “confusing everybody.”

“At this pace,” U.S. District Judge Reggie Walton said, “I’ll guess we’ll be here forever.”

The day’s testimony ended at a tantalizing moment. After some 19 hours on the stand, McNamee was being challenged by Hardin over the needle and other waste kept in a Miller Lite can after a steroids injection McNamee said he gave Clemens in 2001. The government is expected to show the waste contains Clemens’ DNA.

McNamee indicated to Congress in 2008 that he kept the evidence primarily because he was starting to distrust Clemens, but he told the jury earlier this week he kept it because his wife had starting nagging him to do something to protect himself from being a fall guy in case he ever got caught.

McNamee said Thursday he had hoped to keep his wife out of the story. His change of heart came as he and his wife are going through a contentious divorce.

McNamee said the beer can came from the recycling bin in Clemens’ apartment, while conceding that he’d never seen Clemens drink a light beer. Hardin insinuated that McNamee manufactured the evidence after Clemens’ televised denials of steroids use.

— The Associated Press