The U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear an appeal filed by Roger Clemens. The former fastballer and his lawyers had filed their case in friendly Texas despite the fact former trainer Brian McNamee was accused of uttering slanderous statements in New York. First the appellate court ruled that Clemen’s case couldn’t be brought to Texas federal court and now the Supreme Court has refused to listen to Clemens’ case.

On the other end of the battle, McNamee still has a live case against Clemens for defamation and is expected to be the nail in the pitcher’s coffin in an upcoming trial that is focused on alleged false statements Clemens made while under oath several years ago.

Bad news for Clemens, shown in his mugshot here, is not unusual since his ill-fated appearance in that 2008 hearing before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee when he denied ever being injected with HGH by McNamee. Clemens was not credible in the eyes of members of the committee so federal prosecutors were asked to investigate to see if perjury or obstruction of justice charges were justified.

Two years after that debacle, a grand jury indicted him and suddenly one of the most dominating hurlers to ever take the mound in MLB will go to trial next week in Washington, D.C.

Refresher: Clemens indicted, where did he go wrong?

Expected to testify against Clemens will be McNamee and Andy Pettite whose testimony was determined to be critical to McNamee’s believability. Refresher: Pettite could be nail in Clemens coffin.

It was Pettite’s statements when read to Roger that elicited the now famous utterance that Pettite must have “misremembered” when he implicated Clemens. Pettite also admitted being injected by McNamee.

Clemens caused much of his mess when he went on the offensive after the Mitchell Report named him as a user of performance enhancing drugs; a charge supported by multiple credible witnesses who cooperated with the report.

After appearing on the national magazine show “60 Minutes” and telling his side of the story, he demanded to be heard and welcomed being a witness in Congress.

Looks like he got that wish and more.

Visit Sports Climax and my national column at Examiner.com to stay updated on Clemens’ upcoming trial.

Used with permission of the author.
Paula Duffy is a national sports columnist for Examiner.com and the Huffington Post and regularly comments on sports/legal matters for radio affiliates of ESPN and Fox Sports. She founded the sports information site, Incidental Contact, is the author of a line of audio books designed for sports novices and in her spare time practices law in Los Angeles.
Copyright ©2011 Sports Climax, LLC

Andy Pettite made his summer schedule a lot lighter today when he announced he will retire from MLB. That gives the New York Yankees pitcher plenty of time to prepare to testify at former teammate Roger Clemen’s felony perjury trial that is scheduled for later this year.

Three years ago this month, the Yankees called a press conference at the beginning of spring training and Pettite faced media about his admissions related to taking HGH in 2002. His ability to master the delicate balance between giving the media and public enough information to seem credible while avoiding making himself look like a long time cheater, was admirable.

While he admitted getting a couple of HGH injections from former trainer Brian McNamee, saying they were solely for the purpose of healing a nagging injury, Pettite was all but forgiven by the time the session was over; in other words, he had us at hello.

Pettite did confirm what he had told federal prosecutors months before when he and Clemens were named as steroid users in MLB’s Mitchell Report. That meeting included making admissions and answering questions about McNamee and his friend Roger Clemens. Clemens and Pettite shared McNamee and while Andy never admitted seeing Clemens use any banned substances, he admitted that the two conversed about it and that is how he knew that McNamee was injecting both of them.

Clemens, shown in his mugshot above, called his former trainer McNamee a liar under oath but couldn’t muster the same vitriol for his fellow pitcher. That is how we got the famous phrase that Pettite must have “misremembered” the conversation the two players had.

McNamee’s testimony was more believable to Congressional members as well as federal prosecutors specifically because of Pettite’s own admissions. So the former friends will face the discomfort of facing each other, with Pettite in the witness box looking down at Clemens at the defense table, in front of a judge, jury and as many media members that fit in the courtroom.

In the meantime, Clemens just got word this week that a federal judge in N.Y. has determined that McNamee’s slander trial against Roger can proceed; more bad news for the retired pitcher. That case will not be scheduled until the criminal proceedings are concluded and by that time, there’s a chance Clemens may be donning an orange jumpsuit.

Used with permission of the author.

Paula Duffy is a national sports columnist for Examiner.com and the Huffington Post and regularly comments on sports/legal matters for radio affiliates of ESPN and Fox Sports. She founded the sports information site, Incidental Contact, is the author of a line of audio books designed for sports novices and in her spare time practices law in Los Angeles.

Copyright ©2011 Sports Climax, LLC

Say cheese! A collection of mugshots from Roger Clemens to “Pacman” to the old-time favorites O.J. and Marv Albert.

Read the full story