SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — A federal judge has barred the jury from hearing angry voicemails Barry Bonds’ left with his mistress during their stormy nine-year relationship.
Prosecutors wanted to introduce the voicemails at the slugger’s perjury trial starting next week to show that Bonds was experiencing so-called ‘roid rage when he left the messages demanding to know the whereabouts of Kimberly Bell.
But U.S. District Court Judge Susan Illston said Thursday that the voicemails had little relevance to proving Bonds lied when he denied knowingly taking steroids. Illston said she believed prosecutors were trying to get the voicemails into the trial for the sole reason of denigrating Bonds in front of the jury.
