Bonds Actions Speak Louder Then Words

With the publication of The Game of Shadows, everyone in the world is coming into the light of the speculation of Bonds alleged steroid use. Some will argue that the source of the book was written unlawfully, some would argue the book proves that Bonds did in fact use steroids; others will see all the proof they need is within the argument itself, without even cracking the cover.

The book is partly based on the sealed grand jury testimony of Bonds in the Balco steroid distribution case. It is illegal to leak such information, but these authors are not guilty of leaking it. Whoever the source was, is the guilty party. The law prohibits disclosure of sealed grand jury proceedings by various parties involved in the hearing, but that same law does not have authority over outside parties using such information. Once it has been leaked, it does not state that the media using such information is necessarily unlawful. That same law does not prohibit the use or possession of those documents as long as you were not part of the court proceedings. If a jury member wrote the book it would be another story.

What Bonds is arguing is that the court guaranteed them of sealed testimonies. And that the court failed in that guarantee. And the courts itself should be held in contempt, not the authors. What his lawyers are doing, is questioning where the information came from; not wheather or not it is fact or fiction. If they can prove the source was breaking the law in releasing the documents, then the court could be blamed for contempt, and prove that he would never in fact get a fair trial because of their incompetence. This is in interesting point, because it puts Bonds in a tough position. In order to prove that the court dropped the ball, he must concede that the book is true, or at least partly true. He has to prove that the book was written from his grand jury testimony. Thus, he is somewhat admitting his guilt of using steroids through admitting the book is true.

In order for Bonds to sue the authors and publications over false facts, or malicious defamation of Bonds character, he would have to prove the book wrong with counter-facts beyond any shadow of doubt. (Pardon the pun.) But in order to do that, he would lose ground in his case against the court, because they need to prove that in fact, the book was written from his grand jury testimony. For Bonds to come out to the public and state that the book is indeed false, and continue his case against the court, he would be declaring that he lied under oath, and could be found guilty of perjury. Bonds lawyers have advised against him arguing the truth of the book, because it is a lose-lose scenario.

As for the authors of the book, they somewhat have a loophole in the system. If they received thus information from someone that was not supposed to leak it, they can still use the information through the First Amendment. Even if they received this information unlawfully, they are still protected under Freedom of Speech. They cannot be incarcerated for misconduct, because ultimately they are not responsible for the leak of sealed documents.

Bonds was suing the authors and publication with a Unfair Competition lawsuit, in order to escape the First Amendment conflict, avoid having to go back in court to prove that the book is false, and eliminate a chance of Bonds being found guilty of perjury. (As Socal pointed out, this case was dropped.) This lawsuit was not trying to stop the publication of Game of Shadows, or punish them for distributing the book, but it states they would not be allowed to profit from it. If Bonds could prove that they personally profited from the publication of sealed government documents, with the intent of profiting from thus documents, the authors could be found guilty of stealing from government property for "personal use." The point, and problem of this lawsuit, is to finger the leak of the sealed testimony. If the authors refuse to give their source from the book, the only thing they can be found guilty of is contempt. If they can prove the source leaked sealed government documents, and the authors did indeed profit from getting the information unlawfully, they can be prosecuted on a civil liability, along with contempt. This lawsuit could open the door for jail time for the authors, but it's only the first step. If they were not to profit from this book, they are not breaking any laws at all, and are protected under the Freedom of Speech. Even if the information was received unlawfully.

Bonds is in the middle of a rock and a hard place with this whole scenario. In order to save himself from future prosecution from the court, he must prove that the court is to blame for his unfair biased public opinion. He can't go after the authors for defamation, because it opens himself up for more perjury charges against him, and could likely serve jail time as a result.

The Game of Shadows may be written unlawfully, but it also maybe the proof the world needs to back their opinion of Bonds alleged steroid use. The interesting part of this whole debacle has nothing to do with what is written in black and white on the pages of the book. An analytical look at Bonds actions in his defense towards the Game of Shadows sheds more light on his alleged steroid use then any book could.

*This is strictly my opinion, of course, I don't claim to be a lawyer, and I may misunderstand these laws, but that is at least how I interpret the whole scenario.  This entry was in response to SoCal's blog entry called, Game of Shadows Authors Ordered to Testify. Again, I am no lawyer, I just play one on FOX Sports Blogs.