Bonds Threatens to Sue Critics for Defamation

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Giants Slugger Singles Out Sports Commentator and Red Sox Pitcher

By Tim Hay
Daily Journal Staff Writer

SAN FRANCISCO - A week after breaking Hank Aaron's home run record, San Francisco Giants slugger Barry Bonds is breaking his long-kept silence toward his many detractors, and is threatening to sue anyone who makes false statements about his alleged steroid use or tax evasion.

Bonds has hired two prominent Bay Area civil rights attorneys - Oakland attorney John Burris and San Francisco lawyer Todd Schneider - to protect him from claims he says are untrue, in particular those made by Boston Red Sox pitcher Curt Schilling to HBO commentator Bob Costas.

"[Schilling] is foremost on our radar screen," Burris said Tuesday. "When people put words in Barry's mouth, that's defamatory, and not protected by the First Amendment."

Late last month, Schilling, talking to Costas, said Bonds' refusal to comment on accusations of both unethical and illegal behavior was roughly tantamount to admitting the claims were true, according to a transcript of the broadcast.

Burris would not say if, or when, he and Schneider would actually file suit against the outspoken pitcher. But if they do file suit, free-speech experts said Tuesday they could face a steep climb to collect damages.

"It sounds like [Schilling's comments] were more of a statement of opinion [than incorrect fact]," said James Wheaton of Oakland's First Amendment Project.

Bonds has been haunted by allegations of steroid use since 2003, when a raid on sports nutrition company Bay Area Laboratory Co-Operative led to several arrests for distributing performance enhancers to professional athletes.

Bonds' 2003 grand jury testimony, later leaked to the media, revealed that he used BALCO products, though he denied knowing they contained steroids.

Additionally, a former girlfriend and a former business partner have accused the baseball legend of evading taxes.

The U.S. Attorney's Office is known to be probing possible crimes committed by Bonds, including perjury, but the office has yet to announce any indictments.

"Barry is under federal investigation," said Burris. "His silence in the past should not be seen as an admission. We want the Northern District jury pool to know that."

Burris is best known for winning hefty settlements for people who accuse police officers of brutality.

In the middle of Bonds' years-long onslaught of bad publicity, the comments several weeks ago from the Red Sox pitcher stood out starkly for Bonds and his attorneys.

In the widely televised interview, Schilling challenged Bonds' silence.

"[Is Bonds] not admitting that there's some legitimacy to it?" he asked.

Schneider, who was named 2005 Trial Lawyer of the Year by the San Francisco Trial Lawyers' Association, said the fact that Bonds is a public figure does not automatically get people off the hook when they talk trash about him.

"There have been false statements attributed to him," Schneider said. "And Barry is tired of all the false statements."

The Red Sox' general counsel, as well as an agency that represents Schilling, could not be reached for comment.

Some First Amendment experts say filing suit against the pitcher could be far more trouble than it's worth for the beleaguered Bonds.

Charity Kenyon, a partner at Sacramento-based Riegels Campos & Kenyon, said Bonds' lawyers "would have to prove that [Schilling] knew that what he was saying was false, or was in reckless disregard" of the truth.

"It's a very high hurdle for public figures," she said.

And Wheaton, of the First Amendment Project, said Bonds would likely have to prove that he did not commit the purported crimes - ingesting illegal steroids and dodging taxes - in order to show that the false statements caused him harm.

"The harm comes from the crime, not the [supposed] admission," he said.

Bonds previously considered legal action against two San Francisco Chronicle reporters who published a book last year on Bonds and the BALCO steroid scandal, as well as the former girlfriend who implicated him in tax evasion.

But since March 2006, when the book came out, no suits have been filed. Bonds' attorney in that matter, Michael Raines, could not be reached Tuesday.

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