Roger Clemens acquitted on all counts: 'You are free to go'

WASHINGTON --- Roger Clemens was found not guilty of perjury and related charges Monday as jurors rejected the prosecution's contention that he lied to Congress in 2008 when he testified that he never took performance-enhancing drugs.

Clemens had been charged with perjury, making false statements and obstruction of Congress, and could have faced 15 to 21 months imprisonment if convicted of all six counts.

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"Mr. Clemens," U.S. District Court Judge Reggie Walton said after the verdict was read, "you are free to go."

Clemens, his wife Debbie and four sons lingered, however, exchanging hugs through tears in the moments after the verdict was read, ending a saga that unfolded for the past four and a half years, when the seven-time Cy Young Award winner's name was first associated with performance-enhancing drug use.

Clemens will be eligible for baseball's Hall of Fame ballot for the first time in December, along with Barry Bonds, the game's all-time home run leader who was convicted on one count of obstruction of justice at his own federal perjury trial in April 2011.

That jury, however, could not render a verdict on three counts of perjury relating to Bonds' statements to a federal grand jury investigating the BALCO steroids ring.

Monday, the tears continued outside of court, as Clemens, flanked by his family and lead attorney Rusty Hardin, broke down when discussing messages of support from friends and former teammates.

"It's been a hard five years," Clemens said, calling his wife, Debbie, "a rock."

"Obviously for the last four and a half, five years, I wasn't able to say anything. I'm really thankful for the (friends) that took time to get on a plane. And all you media guys that have been following my career..."

At that point, Clemens broke down and shortly after exited, flanked by Hardin.

The panel of eight women and four men deliberated for roughly 11 hours in U.S. District Court, including less than four hours over two days last week. The complex trial, which began April 16, was in its 10th week and included 26 days of testimony by 46 witnesses.

"It's a day of celebration for us," said Hardin outside of court after the verdict was read. "Justice won out."

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Monday, Clemens entered the courtroom wearing a tan suit and light blue shirt. He and Hardin appeared to be relaxed before hearing the verdict, exchanging fist bumps before it was announced. Clemens, his family and legal team were the last party to arrive at the courthouse after it was announced the jury had a verdict; afterward, Clemens explained they were tardy because he was working out near the Washington Monument with his sons.

But the process began with a February 2008 congressional hearing in which Clemens made statements to a committee that the government believed to be false, and continued through a mistrial in July 2011.

Hardin and his defense team crafted a narrative throughout the trial that Clemens' athletic legacy was built on an unmatched work ethic. After the verdict was read, Hardin seized on it as a referendum that Clemens' legacy as a player was won purely through hard work.

"When a man says he didn't do it," Hardin said outside of court, "let's at least start out giving him the benefit of the doubt. Using steroids and HGH is cheating, and it is totally contrary to his entire career."

"It is a beautiful day."

Clemens' case hinged in large part on whether jurors would believe the 49-year-old star, who did not testify in his own defense, or Brian McNamee, a onetime strength and conditioning coach who testified with immunity at trial that he injected Clemens with steroids and human growth hormone.

McNamee was the star witness both at the trial and at the February 2008 congressional hearing that helped get Clemens into legal trouble. Henry Waxman (D-Calif.), who chaired the congressional committee that presided over that hearing, released a statement "respecting" the jury's verdict.

"Truthful testimony before Congress is essential," Waxman said. "The Committee referred Mr. Clemens to the Justice Department because we had significant doubts about the truthfulness of his testimony in 2008. I thank the Justice Department for its thorough and professional investigation. And I thank the jury for its service. The decision whether Mr. Clemens committed perjury is a decision the jury had to make and I respect its decision."

Clemens won 354 games and seven Cy Young awards in 24 seasons as a pitcher for the Boston Red Sox, Toronto Blue Jays, New York Yankees and Houston Astros. He struck out 4,672, third-best of all time. Normally, numbers like that would make him a certain Hall of Fame inductee. But the cloud over his name, even with the jury's acquittal, seems likely to cost him votes.

The Mitchell Report, commissioned by Major League Baseball to investigate the history of performance-enhancing drug use in the sport, contended, via McNamee's testimony, that Clemens used performance-enhancing drugs in 1998, 2000 and 2001. After the report's release in December 2007, Clemens issued multiple vigorous denials of McNamee's claims.

Clemens testified in a sworn deposition and at a televised hearing before the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform in February 2008 that he never took steroids or HGH. McNamee testified that he injected Clemens with both and that he saved medical waste from a 2001 steroids injection, which became a central point of contention in the case.

During Clemens' trial, his defense team relentlessly questioned McNamee's credibility. "If his lips are moving about this stuff, he's lying," said defense attorney Michael Attanasio, adding that McNamee "defines reasonable doubt."

Hardin suggested that McNamee had faked evidence. Assistant U.S. Attorney Courtney Saleski countered: "You'd have to believe Brian McNamee made it his life's work to frame Roger Clemens."

Walton declared a mistrial in the original Clemens perjury case last summer when prosecutors introduced evidence that the judge had already ruled inadmissible.

The prospect of this second trial raised a question of whether it was worth the money to try it again. One prospective juror who was dismissed during jury selection in April said: "I don't know if that's the best use of government tax dollars."

McNamee testified that he injected Clemens with steroids in 1998, 2000 and 2001 and with HGH in 2000. He said he saved a needle, cotton balls and other waste from an injection in 2001 and kept it in a FedEx box and a Miller Lite beer can. Hardin called that evidence "garbage" and said the government never should have prosecuted the case.

One of the case's key moments came when Yankees pitcher Andy Pettitte said under cross-examination that there was a "50-50 chance" he had misheard Clemens during a conversation a dozen or so years ago. Pettitte had testified earlier that he'd heard Clemens say in that conversation that he'd used HGH.

Pettitte pitched for the Yankees Saturday at Nationals Park, only miles from the courthouse. He turned 40 a day earlier and became the first player over 40 to start a game for the Yankees since Clemens five years ago, at age 45.

Contributing: Nicole Auerbach and Susan Page in Washington