Appeals court to hear Bonds’ appeal on Feb. 13 Appeals court to hear Bonds’ appeal on Feb. 13 ADVERTISING SAN FRANCISCO — A federal appeals court will hear Barry Bonds’ appeal of his obstruction of justice conviction early next year.
Appeals court to hear Bonds’ appeal on Feb. 13
SAN FRANCISCO — A federal appeals court will hear Barry Bonds’ appeal of his obstruction of justice conviction early next year.
The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Thursday scheduled oral arguments for Feb. 13 before a three-judge panel in San Francisco.
The career home run leader was convicted in April 2011 of one felony obstruction count for giving an evasive, rambling reply during a 2003 grand jury appearance when asked whether he received drugs that required a syringe.
The jury deadlocked on three charges he made false statements, and prosecutors dropped those counts in August 2011.
U.S. District Judge Susan Illston sentenced Bonds to 30 days of house arrest, two years of probation, 250 hours of community service in youth-related activities and a $4,000 fine. She delayed imposing the sentence pending the appeal.
Bonds’ lawyers argue the answer was accurate and not meant to obstruct.
Bonds initially was charged in November 2007.
LeBron, Kobe lead in All-Star voting; Lin making a run
NEW YORK — LeBron James and Kobe Bryant are the leading vote-getters, while Jeremy Lin has a chance to bring Linsanity to the NBA All-Star game.
Lin was running third among Western Conference guards behind Bryant (639,419 votes) and Chris Paul (353,603) when the NBA released the first All-Star balloting update of the season Thursday. Lin was a little more than 55,000 votes behind Paul as he tries to gain a starting spot for the Feb. 17 game in his home arena in Houston.
Lin, an Asian-American who became a worldwide phenom last season while playing for the New York Knicks, has struggled in his first season with the Rockets but remains popular in Asia and figures to benefit from this being the first time fans can vote via social media.
James had 641,348 votes. Carmelo Anthony was second among East frontcourt players and Kevin Garnett was about 7,500 votes ahead of Chris Bosh for the remaining starting slot. Dwyane Wade and Rajon Rondo led East guards.
Kevin Durant, Dwight Howard and Blake Griffin led in the race for the West frontcourt spots.
Voting continues through Jan. 14 and starters will be announced Jan. 17.
House passes bill to build Detroit hockey arena
DETROIT — Michigan’s House approved a bill that could lead to the Detroit Red Wings finally getting a new home.
The bill was passed Thursday and now goes to Republican Gov. Rick Snyder for his signature. State senators approved the legislation last week.
Red Wings’ owner Mike Ilitch currently leases aging Joe Louis Arena in downtown Detroit. Last week, he announced plans for a $650 million multi-use development, which would include an events center where hockey games could be held.
The bill would allow tax dollars collected by Detroit’s Downtown Development Authority to be used for the project. Already, the DDA has been allowed for nearly two decades to pay down Detroit’s general obligation bonds with about $12.8 million a year that otherwise would have gone to education, Senate Democratic leader Gretchen Whitmer has said.
NHL labor talks wrap up Thursday with no progress
NEW YORK — Two days of talks between the NHL, the players’ association, and federal mediators still haven’t provided any answers how to end the lockout.
Representatives from the fighting sides made it into the same room with a federal mediator Thursday. They just didn’t make any noticeable progress. After a failed day Wednesday when the parties on either end of the hockey labor dispute never met with each other, lawyers from each group spoke face to face Thursday.
They appear no closer to a deal to save the season.
President Barack Obama addressed the stalemate in an interview Thursday with WCCO-TV in Minneapolis.
“My message to owners and to players is, ‘You guys make a lot of money and you make a lot of money on the backs of fans, so do right by your fans. You can figure out how to spread out a bunch of revenue that you’re bringing in, but do right by the people who support you,’” Obama said. “And I shouldn’t have to be involved in a dispute between really wealthy players and even wealthier owners. They should be able to settle this themselves. And remember who it is that’s putting all that money in their pockets.”
From wire sources
