S.F. federal prosecutor to leave: Departure could delay decision on indicting Bonds in BALCO case

San Francisco Chronicle ^ | 6/28/7 | Mark Fainaru-Wada and Lance Williams

[SmithL]

The abrupt departure of San Francisco's top federal prosecutor may delay a decision on whether Giants star Barry Bonds will be indicted for perjury in the BALCO steroids case, legal experts said.

Scott Schools, acting U.S. attorney since February, said Wednesday that he would leave his post as early as July 13 to work as a county prosecutor in his native South Carolina. Several informed sources said the Bush administration hopes to replace him with veteran San Francisco lawyer Joseph Russoniello, who served as U.S. attorney here in the 1980s.

Just as Schools leaves, the 2-year-old Bonds perjury probe will reach a turning point: In July, the term of the grand jury that has been investigating the Giants star will expire.

At that point, prosecutors must decide whether to seek an indictment of Bonds, drop the case entirely, or ask a new grand jury to take over the investigation of whether Bonds lied under oath when he testified in 2003 that he had never used steroids and other banned drugs.

With the office in transition, experts said a delay and a handoff to a new grand jury seemed likely -- even though that would mark the second time in the long-running probe that federal prosecutors have punted in the case.

A grand jury first began investigating Bonds for perjury in the spring of 2005. In July 2006, when that panel's term expired, then-U.S. Attorney Kevin Ryan transferred the probe to a second grand jury. Ryan hoped to pressure Bonds' trainer, Greg Anderson, to testify against the Giants' star. But Anderson refused to talk, and he has been in federal prison for contempt of court since November.

"I would think they would wait" until after Schools' successor is in place to decide on whether to indict Bonds,

[Inquisitive1]

Perjury was a crime until WJC.

Now, it's an excuse.

[pnh102]

Steroids?

A federal prosecutor was wasting our time and money dealing with a bunch of overdeveloped athletes? Lovely set of priorities we have there.

[mirkwood]