Jurors resume deliberations in baseball perjury trial

Jurors in the trial of former baseball great Roger Clemens resumed deliberations on Monday, weighing up charges that he lied to Congress about using performance-enhancing drugs.

Clemens - one of the top pitchers in Major League Baseball history - is among the biggest names to be implicated in drug use in the professional baseball industry. He did not take the stand in his own defense during the two-month trial.

The jury of eight women and four men has returned from a four-day break. It had its first conference lasting less than 20 minutes last Tuesday and then met for 3-1/2 hours on Wednesday before breaking for the week due to scheduling conflicts.

Clemens, 49, faces one count of obstruction of Congress, three counts of making a false statement and two counts of perjury. He has pleaded not guilty. If convicted, he faces a maximum prison term of 30 years, though under federal sentencing guidelines he most likely would get 15 to 21 months.

It is Clemens' second trial on charges of lying in 2008 to a congressional committee that was investigating drug use in baseball when he said he did not use performance-enhancing drugs. The first trial ended in a mistrial.

The current trial has featured 46 witnesses over 26 days of testimony, including Brian McNamee, Clemens' former trainer, who said he injected Clemens with anabolic steroids and human growth hormone (HGH) between 1998 and 2001.

McNamee worked with Clemens when the pitcher played for the Toronto Blue Jays and later the New York Yankees.

McNamee testified that he kept needles, cotton balls, a broken steroid ampoule and other medical waste from injections for Clemens. Prosecutors have said some of the items contained Clemens' DNA and traces of steroids.

Known as "The Rocket," Clemens played for four teams over a 24-year career and won 354 regular season games. He is a seven-time winner of the Cy Young Award for best pitcher.

(Editing by David Brunnstrom)