Nov 9, 2007 6:24 pm US/Pacific
SF Cyclist Says She Was Trapped In Steroid Probe
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) ―
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Tammy Thomas of San Francisco takes the silver medal in the womans sprint at the Track World Championships in Belgium.
Jamie McDonald/ALLSPORT
An attorney for disgraced former Olympic bicyclist Tammy Thomas told a judge Friday that perjury charges against her should be dismissed because her testimony didn't affect a federal grand jury's probe of steroids in sports.
Thomas was charged last year with perjury for testifying she never took illegal steroids. She was barred for life in 2002 after testing positive for norbolethone, an obscure and previously undetectable steroid.
Thomas' attorney, Ethan Balogh, said federal prosecutors had little use other than to "trap" Thomas for perjury by calling her before the same grand jury investigating BALCO, as well as home run king Barry Bonds and slugger Jason Giambi.
"This wasn't a legitimate investigation into anything, they wanted to play 'gotcha,"' Balogh argued in a San Francisco federal court. "If we changed her no answers to yes, it doesn't matter. It was to embarrass, to shame and to beat up on a little person."
U.S. District Judge Susan Illston wondered if Thomas' testimony could be compared to a woman lying about her age or whether her allegedly false denials of steroid use were more substantive. The judge said she was inclined to keep the charges intact, but would formally rule later.
"This was a legitimate investigation at BALCO," said federal prosecutor Matthew Parella, who said investigators retested a frozen urine sample from Thomas that showed norbolethone use.
"She lied on the very first question," Parella said. "Then when given the opportunity to change or clarify her testimony, didn't do it."
Bonds is being investigated in a similar perjury case. He has denied ever knowingly taking performance-enhancing drugs. In testimony before a grand jury in 2003, he said he believed a clear substance and a cream given to him by his trainer were flaxseed oil and an arthritis balm.
The Bonds perjury probe began in July 2006, and the investigating grand jury last met Thursday.
Last month, former track star Marion Jones admitted she had taken steroids after years of denials. Jones pleaded guilty to two counts of lying to federal investigators about her drug use and financial transactions.
(© 2009 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
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