SAN FRANCISCO — Eight women and four men were chosen Monday to sit as jurors in the federal trial of former big league slugger Barry Bonds, the Los Angeles Times reported.
A federal court judge in San Francisco called 55 potential jurors on Monday morning for the trial, where Bonds is accused of lying to a grand jury about performance-enhancing drugs,
They were questioned about sports, their knowledge of steroids and other subjects before being voted in or out by prosecutors and defense attorneys.
Bonds’ trial dates back to 2003 when he was called to testify before a grand jury that was investigating a Bay Area laboratory that supplied performance-enhancing drugs to athletes. He told the grand jury that he never knowingly took steroids and that he believed he was taking flax seed oil and an arthritis balm during the 2003 baseball season.
Bonds, 46, broke Hank Aaron’s all-time home run record in August 2007. He faces four counts of perjury and one of obstruction of justice related to his testimony before the grand jury.
Opening statements are expected to begin Tuesday. The trial is expected to last up to four weeks.