Roger Clemens Will Be Welcome Backed To Houston Astros With Open Arms

Roger Clemens Trial: Legacy Will Prevail In Texas, Despite What Happens In Cooperstown

Roger Clemens' local legacy remains positive, no matter what.

Rusty Hardin Says 'Justice Won Out' In Roger Clemens Trial... And He's Right

Roger Clemens Trial Verdict: He's NOT Guilty

The verdict is in for the Roger Clemens perjury trial and the seven-time Cy Young winner has been found NOT guilty on ALL counts.

Roger Clemens has been acquitted of all charges. He squeezed Rusty Hardin's hand in thanks as the last count was read.

— T.J. Quinn (@TJQuinnESPN) June 18, 2012

According to T.J. Quinn's reporting, the jury deliberated for less than 11 hours. The length of the trial is part of the story here, on how dramatic and boring it was at the same time. Brian McNamee spoke of the first time he encountered Roger Clemens' rear and also attempted to present what they called "evidence" in a Miller Lite beer can.

There were also juror dismissed for sleeping through all of that.

The prevailing sentiment is that this trial either should have been over a long time ago, or rather it should have never even happened at all. Still, Clemens gets to walk away from this for a second time in as many years.

For more on the Roger Clemens trial, check out our StoryStream here and be sure to visit SB Nation Houston. As always, Baseball Nation is your source for news and analysis around Major League Baseball.

Rice Baseball Coach Wayne Graham To Testify On Roger Clemens' Behalf

Rice baseball coach Wayne Graham, also known has the man who gave us Roger Clemens and Andy Pettitte through his 11 seasons at San Jacinto Junior College, will testify in the Roger Clemens perjury trial on the former pitcher's behalf.

Graham will testify on Thursday, according to a report from Joseph Duarte at The Houston Chronicle.

#Rice baseball coach Wayne Graham will testify on Roger Clemens' behalf on Thursday in Washington #clemenstrial #hounews

— Joseph Duarte (@Chronicle_Owls) June 4, 2012

This comes less than a week after the Owls were knocked out of their own Houston Regional by Sam Houston State, which was coached by former Rice assistant David Pierce, another Graham protege.

It seems like Graham is just going to show up to speak to Clemens' character, since he did know him first.

Stay updated on this ridiculous Roger Clemens trial at our StoryStream. For more on the Rice Owls check out SB Nation Houston.

Roger Clemens DNA Matches Waste Keep By Brian McNamee

The Roger Clemens trial took a turn on Friday morning as the prosecution tested cotton balls which was stored stored in a beer can by Brian McNamee for seven years. The results from testing those cotton balls confirmed a Clemens match.

The test was done by Alan Keel who is a DNA forensic scientist, and the odds that it would be a match is extremely rare. Here is a series of tweets describing what was found with testimony from Keel:

First Cotton Ball matched to Clemens. 1 in 15.4 trillion likelihood of a different match in US Caucasian population.

— NYDN Sports I-Team (@NYDNSportsITeam) May 25, 2012

Brian McNamee Informs Court On His Snitching History

Roger Clemens Trial Update: Brian McNamee's Memory Has 'Evolved'

As if the frustration from the Roger Clemens perjury trial had not built up enough already, now the main witness and only one who claims to have direct knowledge of the former Major League superstar pitcher's steroid use is telling the court that his memories of said events have 'evolved' over the years.

That's right. Former strength trainer Brian McNamee, billed as a liar by his harshest critics, turns out to have an evolving memory almost a month into the second attempt by the government to convict Clemens of perjury.

After everything bizarre that's happened in this trial, from evidence being presented out of a Miller Lite Can, to jurors being dismissed for sleeping through the (high-profile) court proceedings, now McNamee has admitted that some of the evidence from the beer can, including the needle there, was not used on Clemens.

From reading tweets from Associated Press writer Joseph White, Clemens' lawyers picked McNamee apart and portrayed him as the serial liar they always have.

#Clemens lawyer hammered away at McNamee, aiming for a "gotcha" moment over the famous beer can evidence. McNamee conceded he "misspoke."

— Joseph White Jr. (@JGWhiteAP) May 18, 2012

At one point McNamee hung his head while on the stand. Not a pretty sight. #clemens

— Joseph White Jr. (@JGWhiteAP) May 18, 2012

At another point, a juror gave McNamee a tissue. Didn't know that was allowed. The judge didn't see it. #clemens

— Joseph White Jr. (@JGWhiteAP) May 18, 2012

#Clemens lawyer also made a big deal of McNamee's 2 DUI convictions. Took McNamee about 5 minutes to explain one of them.

— Joseph White Jr. (@JGWhiteAP) May 18, 2012

Due to McNamee's testimony, and Andy Pettitte's too for that matter, Clemens is likely to beat this thing for a second time in less than a year's span, with a lot of tax dollars in the wind behind it.

Read more about the Roger Clemens trial at our StoryStream here.

Roger Clemens Trial: Brian McNamee Admits Previous Lie As Trial Inches Along

Another long day in the trial of Roger Clemens had a bit of a twist when former strength coach Brian McNamee admitted Thursday to changing his story regarding some evidence.

McNamee kept a used needle and some waste in a beer can, which may contain Clemens' DNA and link him to performance-enhancing drugs. McNamee previously told Congress in 2008 that he kept the evidence because he was starting to distrust Clemens. But earlier this week, he told the jury his wife had advised him to keep it in order to protect himself.

McNamee said his story changed because he wanted to keep his wife out of the issue. But with the pair going through a divorce, McNamee had a change of heart, apparently.

Clemens' lawyer, Rusty Hardin, jumped at the opportunity to portray McNamee as a serial liar, as the trainer began to forget specific dates and dosages.

But the trial is now in its fifth week and the slow pace is starting to take its toll on all involved. Two jurors have already been dismissed for falling asleep.

"At this pace, I guess we'll be here forever," said U.S. District Judge Reggie Walton, according to the AP.

For more on the latest trial of Roger Clemens, check out Baseball Nation and our StoryStream here.

Roger Clemens Trial: Second Juror Dismissed For Sleeping

Tuesday morning, before Brian McNamee could take the stand to continue his testimony in the Roger Clemens trial, U.S. District Judge Reggie Walton dismissed the second juror of the trial. Once again, the reason was for falling asleep.

A woman, who works as a supermarket cashier, became the second juror in a week to be dismissed for falling asleep during the trial. Last week, a young man was dismissed for falling asleep as well.

After starting the case with 16 jurors, that number is now down to 14 after the two dismissals (12 regular jurors and 2 alternates).

There's no direct indication as to why there seems to be a pandemic of yawning and cat-napping, but one can only assume the tedious back-and-forth between the opposing sides is rocking these poor jurors to sleep.

According to the New York Times though, Judge Walton has scolded both sides for asking unnecessary questions and boring the jury. He has even threatened to put a time limit on the trial.

Roger Clemens Trial: Brian McNamee Cross-Examination Continues Thursday

Brian McNamee has long been considered the key to both the prosecution and defense of Roger Clemens in his current trial for perjury, and this week's cross-examination of McNamee has amped up the drama and surreality of the entire proceeding.

McNamee will return to the stand on Thursday, two days after the start of his witness stand bout with Clemens' lead attorney, Rusty Hardin. Over the previous two days the trial has shifted away from Clemens and settled upon the character and reliability of McNamee. The Washington Post provides a look inside the federal courtroom in D.C., the location of the trial.

Hardin, however, painted McNamee as a man seeking to benefit financially from the star’s downfall. "Wouldn’t you agree that ever since February 2008, you have been seeking to take advantage of the fame you achieved by making allegations against Roger Clemens?" Hardin asked.

"Can you repeat that, please?" McNamee asked.

"No, I’ll move on," said Hardin, who then quizzed the witness about a self-published memoir, a Web site business that never took off and his disposition of memorabilia signed by Clemens.

If you're looking for a live play-by-play of the day's proceedings, check out the Twitter feed of ESPN "Outside The Lines" reporter T.J. Quinn.

For more on the latest trial of Roger Clemens, check out Baseball Nation.

Brian McNamee Discusses His First Time With Roger Clemens' Booty

Roger Clemens Perjury Trial: Brian McNamee Testifies

Brian McNamee testified that he injected Roger Clemens with steroids 8-10 times in 1998.

Roger Clemens Perjury Trial Update: Team Doc Says Pitcher Never Showed Signs Of Steroid Use

Dr. David Lintner testified today that Roger Clemens never showed any signs of using HGH (human growth hormones) or anabolic steroid use during his tenure with the Houston Astros.

Clemens is on trial and being accused of lying to Congress in 2008 when he denied during a House Committe on Oversight and Government Reform that he had ever used HGH or steroids.

The Houston Chronicle has more or Dr. Lintner's testimony:

"Did you ever see anythink in your observation of him that would give you any indication that he was using either HGH (Human Growth Hormone) or some type of steroid?" Clemens' lead defense attorney, Rusty Hardin, asked the Houston-based orthopedic surgeon Dr. David Lintner. "No," Lintner answered.

According to Michael McCann of Sprts Illustrated, if Clemens is convicted on all six charges he could receive anywhere from 15 to 21 months in federal prison.

Read more about the Clemens trial at our StoryStream here. Check out news and notes on the Astros at From The Crawfish Boxes.

Roger Clemens Perjury Trial Update: Judge Unhappy With The Pace

The pace of the Roger Clemens perjury trial is moving a bit too slow for U.S. District Judge Reggie Walton, who said the trial has been full of repeated questions that are wasting the court's time. That is why he opened court on Monday telling lawyers from both the prosecution and defense that he would put time limits on questions if need be.

Still, none of that stopped Monday's proceedings from seeming to be even slower than usual for some media.

Judge started today by saying he was going crack down to make #Clemens trial go faster. Turned out to be most frustratingly slow day yet.

— Joseph White Jr. (@JGWhiteAP) May 7, 2012

Part of what slowed down the process was the jury arriving late, due to one of the jurors (a new lawyer) being sworn in as an officer of the court. Walton said that if he had known this was the case, he would've sworn her in himself.

The delay lasted almost an hour before former federal agent Jeff Novitzky testified that Clemens was not a target in the federal investigation into performance enhancing drugs and that the pursuit was for the distributors rather than the users. But McNamee gave him up.

ESPN reported that after Novitzky's testimony, jurors were allowed to ask him questions, some of which indicated they weren't too sure about his testimony

One juror asked why the evidence collected in January 2008 took so long for it to come forward, to which the answer was essentially that it takes time to gather and submit evidence (especially if it comes out of Miller Lite can). Another juror asked if Novitzky had spoken to prosecutors about his testimony during the weekend break Novitzky answered yes, which is not uncommon in these situations, but still shows there's a chance the jury isn't totally sold on the government's lead law enforcement witness.

And aside from all of that, the prosecution took a blow when Walton blocked their attempt to use portions of Clemens' 60 Minutes interview with the late, great Mike Wallace in 2008.

The video is supposed to show that Clemens tells different versions of a story to Wallace and Congress as to why he did not meet with former U.S. Senator George Mitchell. Clemens told Wallace that he listened to his legal counsel and if he had known what Brian McNamee was saying about him in the Mitchell Report, he would have met with Mitchell.

Clemens, of course, told Congress that he didn't know Mitchell wanted to meet with him and his lawyers were "derelict in their duties" to him. Walton sided with the defense, saying this:

"In my view, that implicates to attorney-client privilege, and therefore it cannot come in (as admissible evidence)."

The defense also filed a motion on Monday to get rid of Andy Pettitte's testimony of a "50-50" recollection of Clemens admitting to him about 12 years ago that he used HGH. The defense motion read:

"The court should not allow the jury to consider an alleged 'admission' that has all the weight of a coin flip,"

The most riveting testimony will be later this week, that of Brian McNamee, Clemens' former strength coach and the only one who claims to have direct knowledge of Clemens' steroid and HGH use.

Read more about the Clemens trial at our StoryStream here. Check out news and notes on the Astros at From The Crawfish Boxes.

PHOTO: Roger Clemens 'Evidence' Comes Out Of A Miller Lite Can

Roger Clemens Trial: Federal Agent Explains Evidence

The prosecution in the Roger Clemens perjury trial is having a much better day Thursday than it had on Wednesday. Federal investigator Jeff Novitzky took the stand before a one-hour lunch break and broke down the evidence that could land Clemens on the business end of a perjury conviction.

The New York Daily News, along with various other media outlets, live-tweeted Thursday's proceedings and called the questioning of Novitzky by Clemens' attorney Rusty Hardin a "very interesting showdown."

On Wednesday, a beer can containing medical waste that supposedly links to Clemens to human growth hormone use was presented as evidence and on Thursday, Novitzky discussed that Miller Lite can. He testified to taking the bottom off the can to access the contents.

Here are some of the tweets from the Daily News (Durham is the prosecutor):

The beer can had cotton balls. Durham: "Are there what appear to be some kind of stains on that cotton ball." #Clemens

— NYDN Sports I-Team (@NYDNSportsITeam) May 3, 2012

Novitzky says he put materials in clear plastic bag "so that we had a good chain of evidence." Jury sees photos of evidence bag. #Clemens

— NYDN Sports I-Team (@NYDNSportsITeam) May 3, 2012

Novitzky describes handing the medical evidence over to the FBI after Congress referred Clemens testimony to the #DOJ.

— NYDN Sports I-Team (@NYDNSportsITeam) May 3, 2012

Novitzky: "On the right there what you see are two vials, and one ampoule with the top broken off." Describes them as HGH, Primobolan, etc.

— NYDN Sports I-Team (@NYDNSportsITeam) May 3, 2012

Novitzky says all of these items were turned over to the FBI on June 23, 2009, "per their request."

— NYDN Sports I-Team (@NYDNSportsITeam) May 3, 2012

This trial was moving slowly until Wednesday when Andy Pettitte testified that there was a "50-50 chance" that he misunderstood Clemens 12 years ago when Clemens allegedly discussed his use of HGH. However, the day ended with the jury seeing drugs and needles presented as evidence, along with the testimony of Novitzky.

Stay updated on the Clemens trial by following our StoryStream. Read more about the Astros at The CrawfIsh Boxes.

Roger Clemens Perjury Trial Recap : Andy Pettitte Testimony Shocks Prosecutors

With Andy Pettitte having a change of thought, the dynamics of the Roger Clemens perjury trial have changed dramatically.

Roger Clemens Trial: BALCO Investigator Testifies

All wasn't lost for the prosecution in the Roger Clemens perjury trial, despite his former teammate Andy Pettitte saying on Wednesday that he could have misunderstood Clemens when he was told about his human growth hormone use.

Jeff Novitzky, a special agent for the Internal Revenue Service who investigates the distribution of performance enhancement drugs and was part of the BALCO investigation, testified that he received a tip of former Mets clubhouse attendant Kirk Radomski dealing PEDs and executed a search warrant on Radomski's house, which subsequently led to an investigation of McNamee.

Novitzky spoke on meetings he had with McNamee, saying Clemens was one of the people mentioned in the conversations which discussed the trainer's alleged involvement in distribution of PEDs. This, from baseball writer John Schlegel:

Novitzky also related the receipt from Emery of medical waste McNamee says he kept in a beer can that the government contends connects Clemens via DNA evidence to using steroids.

So gross.

Read more on the Clemens trial at our StoryStream here.

Roger Clemens Trial: Prosecution Can't Get It Right

Perhaps Roger Clemens should be paying the government the same as what he's been paying his own legal team. In the second attempt to convict Clemens of perjury, after failing to do so last year because of an amateur mistake in procedure, here the prosecution is once again in the bad graces of the judge.

According to reports, U.S. District Judge Reggie Walton "repeatedly berated" prosecutor Steven Durham for not asking the necessary follow-up questions on Wednesday when Andy Pettitte testified that there was a "50-50" chance he misunderstood Clemens 12 years ago in regards to his admission to human growth hormone use.

"I was waiting for you to ask, and you didn't ask that," Walton said (to Durham).

"My understanding is that (Pettitte's) position is at this time, he is conflicted. ... His testimony now before the jury is 'I don't know,' " the judge continued. "I thought that what we would hear is, 'Mr. Pettitte, currently, what is your memory of what Mr. Clemens told you back in 1999?'"

This is obviously a huge blow to the prosecution and more than likely an unexpected turn of events.

Read more about the Clemens trial at the SB Nation Houston StoryStream here.

After Andy Pettitte's Testimony, Roger Clemens Likely Will Walk Free

Roger Clemens Trial: Andy Pettitte Testifies He May Have 'Misunderstood' Clemens

The government's perjury case against Roger Clemens took a serious blow on Tuesday when their star witness, Andy Pettitte, said he may have "misunderstood" what Clemens told him about HGH use under cross-examination.

According to CBS News, Pettitte was clearly uncomfortable testifying about his former teammate, a reticence Clemens' lawyers used to their advantage when they had the opportunity to cross-examine him. The two former Houston Astros reportedly did not make eye contact during his testimony.

On Monday, Pettitte testified that Clemens told him he used HGH, but he hedged his statements on Tuesday while acknowledging that he found the whole process "uncomfortable".

The government's case depends heavily on his testimony, as their other key witness, Clemens and Pettitte's former trainer Brian McNamee, is a far more dubious character who isn't as likely to be seen as trustworthy by the jury.

For more updates on the Roger Clemens trail, check back to this SB Nation Houston StoryStream.

Roger Clemens Trial: Clemens Lawyer Attacks McNamee In Opening Statement

In his opening statement in the second trial concerning Roger Clemens' possible perjury to Congress, Rusty Hardin, Clemens' lawyer, laid out a case based around attacking the credibility of Brian McNamee, Clemens' former trainer and the government's star witness.

According to a report from the Houston Chronicle, Hardin's goal seems to make the case into a he said/she said dispute with the former Astros star on one side and McNamee on the other: "Hardin portrayed McNamee as a celebrity-seeking hanger on, a man who wrote a book hoping to profit from insider claims of drug use that Clemens has repeatedly denied."

Hardin also repeatedly noted the time and expense the federal government had spent in trying to build a case around Clemens, noting that hundreds of agents had spent thousands of man-hours all to try to make "denying a crime" a crime.

For more updates on the Roger Clemens grand jury trail, check back to this SB Nation Houston StoryStream.

Roger Clemens Trail: Phase One Of Jury Selection Complete, Final Stage Set For Monday

The first phase of the Roger Clemens grand jury selection was complete Thursday, as the field of 71 possible jurors was narrowed down to 36 in Washington, D.C. That number will be cut to a final 12 with four alternates on Monday, when the selection will continue and hopefully concluded, said Judge Reggie Walton.

Walton also hopes that the jury could hear opening statements from both sides and the first witness from the prosecution. After Monday, the trail will again resume into midday Tuesday until it goes on recess until the following week.

In case you're not aware about what's going on, here's the details:

Clemens is being tried on one count of obstruction of Congress, three counts of making a false statement and two counts of perjury based on his testimony before the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform on Feb. 13, 2008, and a deposition five days earlier. In both the deposition and the hearing, Clemens denied ever using performance-enhancing drugs.

For more updates on the Roger Clemens grand jury trail, check back to this SB Nation Houston StoryStream.

Roger Clemens Does His Second Battle With Congress, But Why?

Roger Clemens is facing his second battle with Congress.