Judge Denies Clemens' Motion To Prevent 2nd Perjury Trial

A motion by Roger Clemens' defense team to have a judge dismiss the government's case against the former pitcher was denied Friday afternoon, as reported by Fox News.  Clemens' lead attorney Rusty Hardin had asked judge Reggie Walton to forbid another trial following the July hearing in which the judge declared a mistrial after two days of testimony.

According to Fox News, the judge sided with the prosecution and set a date for the second trial.

Hardin accused prosecutors of deliberately sabotaging the case because it was going badly for the government.

During the first trial jurors were shown evidence that was already determined to be inadmissible in court by the judge.

The prosecution team claimed it was a mistake.  Prosecutors-- Steven Durham and Daniel Butler made a critical error by introducing the barred evidence.  They apologized and impelled Walton into giving them another chance.

The evidence in question was a video in which a congressman referred to testimony by Laura Pettitte-- former Yankee Andy Pettitte's wife-- that Walton had barred as second-hand testimony.

In a statement, Walton said," I want to believe it is a mistake.  I would find it hard to believe that they would blatantly disregard a ruling I would make.  But it's hard for me to reach another conclusion."

Hardin, meanwhile, thinks a retrial would be a "reward" for the prosecutors for causing the mistrial in the first place.

Clemens is accused of lying under oath after speaking before a committee about steroid use in 2008.

At that hearing, Clemens testified," No matter what we discuss here, I'm never going to have my name restored.  But I've got to set the record straight.  Let me be clear.  I've never taken steroids or HGH."

Today's decision by judge Walton means that there was no procedural misconduct and it favors the prosecution.

The ruling determined that Clemens will be tried once more for lying under oath.  The trial date is set for April 17.

A guilty verdict would further tarnish the image of one of baseball's greatest pitchers and hinder his chances of getting into Cooperstown.

Hardin said it would take a couple of days to decide if they will file an appeal.

A-Rod's Banned Drug Mule Spotted On Yankees Road Trip

Major league baseball is looking into New York Yankees slugger Alex Rodriguez's relationship with his steroid-supplying cousin Yuri Sucart after the admitted drug mule was spotted at the team's San Francisco hotel during the Yankees series against the Oakland A's.

Like bedbugs and Katie Couric, Sucart isn't easy to get rid of.

According to a team source, Sucart was seen at the St. Regis Hotel Tuesday night during the Yankees two-game series across the bay.  Sucart has been banned by the Yankees from any team-related activities after Rodriguez admitted that his cousin supplied and injected him with performance-enhancing drugs while he was with the Texas Rangers in 2001-3.

The source said Sucart, Rodriguez's mysterious "trainer" and "personal manager,"  has accompanied the Yankee third-baseman on numerous road trips over the past two seasons and the Yankees and MLB aren't too happy about the donkey's alleged resurrection.

Sucart was Rodriguez's constant companion during A-Rod's playing days with the Rangers, the Seattle Mariners and the Yankees.  He was banished, by the Yankees in 2009, from any Yankees team flights, stadiums or training facilities where the team was located.  Unofficially, Sucart's banishment does not apply to team hotels or sitting in the stands as a spectator.

After a 2009 Sports Illustrated story reported that Rodriguez tested positive during a 2003 drug test, he confessed how Sucart would pick up the steroids (or "boli" as it is sometimes called) in the Dominican Republic and inject the drug into both him and his cousin when he played for the Rangers in 2001-3.

Since 2003, Major League Baseball has had it's own ban on personal trainers and managers who are not affiliated with the teams and is once again looking into A-Rod's questionable relationship with Sucart.

Yankees GM Brian Cashman had no comment on the allegations, but can't be too happy about his star player bringing another distraction to the team.  MLB is already interested in the miraculous "stem-cell procedure" that has revived Yankees starting pitcher Bartolo Colon's arm.

The 48 year-old Sucart has seen better times since his Yankee banishment.  He is in foreclosure on several real estate properties according to his lawyer and feels he took the rap for A-Rod's misdeeds.

"Everybody wants a scapegoat," the dejected Sucart once said.

Maybe that's a step up from being a mule.