No charges filed on Bonds; new grand jury convenes

SAN FRANCISCO -- No indictment was returned Thursday against Barry Bonds, though a new grand jury will be convened to consider possible perjury and tax-evasion charges against the star slugger as part of the ongoing federal probe into steroids.

Word that a Bonds indictment was not imminent came as one grand jury's term expired. The new panel will continue to investigate whether Bonds lied under oath when he said he never knowingly took performance-enhancing drugs.

"They don't even have enough to indict a ham sandwich, much less Barry Bonds," said the slugger's attorney, Michael Rains. But he seemed to back away slightly from Bonds' earlier statements that he didn't know the substances given to him by personal trainer Greg Anderson were steroids.

"He was suspicious in light of what he had read as to whether those were steroids or not," Rains told reporters outside the federal courthouse here.

Anderson, a key witness, was freed at midday from the federal prison where he was sent more than two weeks ago after refusing to testify against his childhood friend.

Mark Geragos, Anderson's lawyer, said the personal trainer already has been ordered to testify next Thursday before the new grand jury. But he will again refuse.

"They can subpoena him every day for the rest of this year, and it doesn't matter," Geragos said. "He's not going to talk."

The judge that ordered Anderson to prison had said the personal trainer was to be held until he agreed to testify against Bonds or the grand jury's term expired.

Speculation has been mounting for weeks that Bonds would be indicted Thursday with the grand jury expiring. His lawyers had said they were preparing a defense.

But soon after the grand jury reported to the federal courthouse here to begin the final day of its probe, the U.S. Attorney's office issued a statement saying it "is not seeking an indictment [Thursday] in connection with the ongoing steroids-related investigation."

Anderson appears to be the key to whether perjury charges could stick against Bonds, and prosecutors referred Thursday to his refusal to testify.

"We will continue to move forward actively in this investigation -- including continuing to seek the truthful testimony of witnesses whose testimony the grand jury is entitled to hear," said Luke Macaulay, a spokesman for the U.S. Attorney Kevin Ryan.