Rocket to the Slammer - Clemens May See Jail Time if he Goes the Distance

Judge Reggie Walton's courtroom fell silent as Roger Clemens uttered just four words - "Not guilty, Your Honor" - with a smile and his distinctive Texas accent Clemens may in fact be sealing his own fate. There are very few things worse in a legal context than lying under oath. One of them is volunteering to appear before a court even though you are not legally required to do so, then lying under oath. This appears to be exactly what Roger Clemens may have done. It begs the question of why? Yet, before that question is addressed we must consider whether or not Clemens will likely be found guilty - the answer is a definitive yes.

The simple reason for this is that the Feds do not just go out and indict people on a whim or without real cause. They especially do not do so lightly with someone such as Roger Clemens, a public figure with the money and means to fight this thing all the way. Charges of lying to Congress are difficult to prove, which helps to explain why there have been very few prosecutions for the crime in recent decades. And Clemens, with his career record of 354-184, is no pushover opponent. In this case that translates to the probability that the government has real evidence. And I do not mean a lone witness, or an involved witness, such as the person that sold him or helped him use the illicit substances. Rather, the Feds likely have something along the lines of multiple eyewitness statements coupled with perhaps even more damning evidence. Think positive test results previously undisclosed.

So, where does that leave the Rocket? In pretty hot water I would surmise. It does not bode well for Clemens that Court officials selected the large ceremonial courtroom for his trial - they seem to want to make something of an example of him. Yet, Clemens seems pretty certain that McNamee’s (his alleged supplier) horde of artifacts, including the actual needles he allegedly used to inject Clemens with banned substances, will not hold up to forensic scrutiny when presented at trial. McNamee alleges to have kept these items nestled away in a Miller Lite beer can and FedEx box for seven years plus, as you do.

Clemens is not without adequate advocates in his predicament; his lead counsel is Rusty Hardin who has successfully represented many professional athletes before - eg. Warren Moon (assaulting his wife), Wade Boggs (simple assault), and NBA hall-of-famer Calvin Murphy (sexual assault/ indecency with a child). And, not only does Hardin get his clients off the hook - he does it with incredible, almost mythical speed. Murphy was acquitted in just over two hours, Moon in less than a thirty minutes, and Boggs in a vertigo-inducing four minutes. Yet, Hardin is famous also for one of the greatest exchanges in American jurisprudence - EVER! He represented the estate of J. Howard Marshall II, Anna Nicole Smith's 89-year-old deceased husband. Hardin continued to get under Smith’s skin throughout the trial. When she claimed that her husband died from choking on food, Hardin reminded the 26-year-old ex-stripper that her 89-year-old husband died of a heart attack.

Then he asked her “Do you seriously swear under oath that Pierce Marshall ordered people to let his father choke to death? Sobbed Smith: “Yes.” Then Hardin asked “Miss Marshall, have you been taking new acting lessons?” “Screw you, Rusty,” was Smith’s infamous reply. “Shortly after that, I was at a Houston Rockets game, and people in the stands started yelling, ‘Screw you, Rusty,’” Hardin later recalled.

Worthy counsel aside, Clemens may in fact be in real trouble, and even face real jail time. Realistically, he could be looking at something like 10-30 months at Club Fed. So, the lingering question is why did he fib? It seems that he is in fact arrogant and boorish in many respects, and his overflowing hubris may change his pinstripes to prison stripes. One wonders whether Clemens ever even considered giving an apology, as a straightforward mea culpa would likely leave him facing only a hefty fine and perhaps probation. But, the Rocket is simply too proud for that.

When Clemens raised his right hand that fateful day on Capitol Hill, the same arm that made him one of the top pitchers to ever take the mound, he lied. Or so says the Federal Government, and much of the court of public opinion. Now it’s their burden to prove it. And, in an era when a large percentage of players were using something to get an edge, Clemens will have to try to essentially not to be the one guy — maybe even the only one — proven dumb enough to suffer the consequences of their collective folly.