Roger Clemens taught us another important lesson in dealing with an investigation. Never lie to the feds.
Mark McGwire essentially proclaimed his guilt when he refused to answer questions about steroid use during his playing career at a congressional hearing. He may have lost in the arena of public opinion, but he will not have to continue in the courtroom arena.
Mr. Clemens said the following, under oath, at a Congressional hearing:
- “I have not used steroids of human growth hormone.”
- “I am just making it as perfectly clear as I can, I haven’t done steroids or growth hormone.”
- “I never used steroids. Never performance-enhancing steroids.”
Instead of having to prove that Roger Clemens illegally took steroids, they just need to prove that he took steroids.
Martha Stewart was never convicted of insider trading. She was convicted of perjury lying to federal investigators. She lied about the circumstances of her trades.They did not have enough evidence to prove insider trading. But they did have enough lies to convict her of perjury.
Roger will now need to worry about trading his Yankees pinstripes for jail stripes. It’s probably going to be tough to get that Baseball Hall of Fame vote while being under federal indictment. Clemens is eligible to be placed on the ballot in 2012. He may need to be more worried about being eligible for parole.
Sources:
- Grand Jury Indictment in US v. Clemens
from the Washington Post - McGwire mum on steroids in hearing on CNN.com
- Here’s some free advice: Don’t Lie to Investigators by Joel Beck of BD Law Blog
Image of Roger Clemens is by Keith Allison
