Aug 30, 2010
WASHINGTON — Less than a mile from the Congressional hearing room where Roger Clemens testified that he had never used steroids, he entered a federal courtroom here Monday, pleading not guilty to felony charges that he lied at the hearing.
Clemens, the seven-time Cy Young Award winner, was arraigned on six charges. No bail was set.
He said only four words to United States District Judge Reggie Walton: “Not guilty, your honor.”
Clemens will be free to travel but only in the United States, and was told to check in with the court once every two weeks.
The arraignment was held at the largest courtroom in the E. Barrett Prettyman United States Courthouse.
Clemens was accompanied by his lawyer Rusty Hardin, who has led the charge to discredit accusations that Clemens used performance-enhancing drugs, which first surfaced in the Mitchell report in December 2007.
The government said it handed over the evidence it has against Clemens — 12 computer disks and a 34-page index — to his lawyers Monday. The government said Hardin might need to do his own testing on scientific evidence the government has provided.
Jury selection for the trial is set to begin on April 5.
Clemens walked out of the courtroom, escorted by two United States marshals, without saying anything. There was a group of about 60 people, including reporters, television crews and some baseball fans, outside the courthouse when he left.
Clemens, who was indicted 11 days ago, arrived at the courthouse more than four hours early for his 2 p.m. arraignment in federal court on criminal charges. He and Hardin climbed out of a dark-colored S.U.V. that pulled in front of the courthouse.
With only a pair of news photographers there, Clemens took a second to put on a dark suit jacket before walking into the building. He said nothing as he walked in.
Clemens most likely arrived early to go through pretrial services before his arraignment, said a courthouse spokesman, who said that would have included being fingerprinted and having a mug shot taken.
About an hour before the arraignment, he sat with Hardin and other members of his defense team in the courthouse cafeteria eating a salad.
Clemens’s former trainer and chief accuser, Brian McNamee, was not at the hearing. McNamee first linked Clemens to steroids and human growth hormone after federal authorities compelled him to cooperate with George J. Mitchell, who was leading an investigation into the use of performance-enhancing drugs in baseball.
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