WASHINGTON — The dozen Washingtonians who will decide Roger Clemens’ fate heard a day of closing arguments stuffed with attention-getting sound bites. The eight women and four men who mostly care little about baseball then began deliberations Tuesday that will impact one of the most successful pitchers of his generation — and, in a way, the criminal pursuit of athletes accused of illegal doping.
Clemens fate now in
hands of ‘the final umpires’
WASHINGTON — The dozen Washingtonians who will decide Roger Clemens’ fate heard a day of closing arguments stuffed with attention-getting sound bites. The eight women and four men who mostly care little about baseball then began deliberations Tuesday that will impact one of the most successful pitchers of his generation — and, in a way, the criminal pursuit of athletes accused of illegal doping.
“You,” prosecutor Gil Guerrero told the jurors, “are the final umpires here.”
They heard a clever line about Clemens being “a Cy Young baseball player” but not “a Cy Young witness.” They heard the key witness called “a flawed man” who produced evidence from a “magic beer can.” There were asked to debate whether it’s “outrageous” that Clemens was charged in the first place, or whether it’s a byproduct from Congress’ “authority to protect the nation’s youth.”
Having digested the competing spins on 26 days of testimony by 46 witnesses, the jury met for some 15 minutes before being excused for the day at 5 p.m. They will reconvene this afternoon, unless they reach a quick verdict, then take off until Monday because of a long-scheduled out-of-town business trip by the judge.
Clemens is charged with perjury, making false statements and obstructing Congress when he testified at a deposition and at a nationally televised hearing in February 2008. The heart of the charges center on his repeated denials that he used steroids and human growth hormone.
Penn State witness
says he saw shower assault
BELLEFONTE, Pa. — A former Penn State assistant coach who was a central figure in Joe Paterno’s downfall testified Tuesday that he heard a “skin-on-skin smacking sound” in a campus locker room one night in 2001 and saw something that was “more than my brain could handle.”
Jerry Sandusky was standing naked in the showers behind a boy, slowly moving his hips, Mike McQueary told the jury.
McQueary, one of the star witnesses in the child sexual abuse case against Sandusky, said he had no doubt he was witnessing anal sex. He testified that he slammed his locker shut loudly as if to say, “Someone’s here! Break it up!”
Then, he said, he went upstairs to his office to try to make sense of what he had seen.
Sandusky, 68, is on trial on charges he molested 10 boys over a 15-year period. Authorities say he abused them in hotels, at his home and inside the football team’s quarters. The former assistant coach and founder of an acclaimed youth charity has denied the allegations.
Paterno was fired last fall, shortly after Sandusky’s arrest, when it became known that McQueary had told the head football coach about the shower episode a decade ago. Two months after his dismissal, Paterno died of lung cancer at 85.
McQueary was composed during his testimony, and when asked if he knew Sandusky, he looked right at him with a sharp glance that Sandusky returned.
McQueary’s account differed little from the one he gave in December at a preliminary hearing for two Penn State administrators charged with failing to report the shower episode to authorities. One difference: He said it took place in 2001 instead of 2002.
Sandusky attorney Karl Rominger pressed McQueary during cross-examination about discrepancies in his estimate of the boy’s age.
McQueary replied: “If (you) want to argue about 9, 10, 11, 12 … the fact is he had sex with a minor, a boy.”
Oudin advances
on grass in Birmingham
BIRMINGHAM, England — Melanie Oudin of the United States ousted 10th-seeded Sorana Cirstea of Romania 3-6, 6-3, 6-2 Tuesday at the Aegon Classic grass-court tournament.
Zheng Jie defeated Alla Kudryavtseva of Russia 6-4, 4-6, 6-3 in her opening match.
She will play against the No. 76th-ranked Anne Keothavong of Britain in the second round. Keothavong advanced after beating the 12-seeded Tamira Paszek of Austria 6-2, 7-5.
Eleventh-seeded Iveta Benesova of the Czech Republic lost her match 6-2, 6-1 to Tara Moore of Britain.
Hewitt blown away
by Karlovic at Queen’s
LONDON — Former champion Lleyton Hewitt was brushed aside by 6-foot-10 Ivo Karlovic on Tuesday, losing 6-3, 6-2 in the opening round at Queen’s Club.
Karlovic took command from the start, smashing seven aces in his first two service games and making an early break. The Croat went on to close the match with his 22nd ace.
Nicolas Mahut of France earned a second-round meeting with top seed and defending champion Andy Murray by beating Guillermo Garcia Lopez of Spain 6-4, 6-2.
Second-seeded Jo-Wilfried Tsonga will play Jamie Baker, who defeated fellow Briton Oliver Golding 7-6 (1), 6-3 to set up his clash with the 2011 finalist.
Former four-time champ Andy Roddick will face Edouard Roger-Vasselin in the second round after the Frenchman defeated Kazakh qualifier Evgeny Korolev 6-7 (5), 6-2, 6-4.
Granollers beats Zverev
to advance at Halle
HALLE, Germany — Sixth-seeded Marcel Granollers defeated Mischa Zverev 6-4, 6-2 Tuesday to reach the second round of the Gerry Weber Open.
The 26-year-old Granollers overcame resistance from the Russian-born Zverev, who is ranked 190th.
Zverev held his serve and saved six break points before Granollers finally broke him in the ninth game to take a 5-4 lead to take the first set. The 22nd-ranked Spaniard broke the German twice in the second to wrap up the match.
Granollers will play veteran Tommy Haas, who advanced after Bernard Tomic retired after 22 minutes while trailing 5-2. Haas said Tomic had told him he’d been ill.
Also, Radek Stepanek edged seventh-seeded Andreas Seppi 7-6 (6), 4-6, 7-6 (7).
Viktor Troicki stopped Benjamin Becker 6-2, 7-6 (6) to set up a second round meeting with third-seeded Tomas Berdych.
Earlier, Florian Mayer beat American qualifier Tim Smyczek in straight sets to set up a second round meeting with five-time winner Roger Federer on Thursday.
The same day, Rafael Nadal will open against Lukas Lacko, who beat Konstantin Kravchuk 2-6, 6-2, 6-3 in the first round.
By wire sources