SAN FRANCISCO – Barry Bonds asked a federal judge to dismiss perjury charges against him Wednesday, arguing the indictment is "scattershot" and noted for its "striking inartfulness."
Bonds was charged in November with lying to a grand jury about his use of performance-enhancing drugs. In the motion filed in San Francisco federal court, the former San Francisco Giant neither admits nor denies taking the drugs, but argues the questions asked by prosecutors during Bonds' December 2003 grand jury appearance were vague, ambiguous and confusing.
The lawyers said "the questions posed to him by two different prosecutors were frequently imprecise, redundant, overlapping and frequently compound."
Prosecutors asked Bonds several times whether personal trainer Greg Anderson supplied him with steroids and other performance-enhancing drugs beginning in 2000. Bonds answered "no" or "not at all," but his lawyers argued the questions were not clear.
Bonds' lawyers asked U.S. District Judge Susan Illston to toss the case or order prosecutors to streamline the indictment, which cites 19 different instances of Bonds' alleged lying.
Bonds, a free agent, has pleaded not guilty to four charges of perjury and one count of obstruction.
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