Bonds to Sue Authors of Steroids Book
Bonds to Sue Authors of Steroids Book
By JUSTIN M. NORTON, Associated Press Writer 56 minutes ago
SAN FRANCISCO - Barry Bonds plans to sue the authors and publisher of a book that alleges the
San Francisco Giants' slugger used steroids and other performance-enhancing drugs, saying they used "illegally obtained" grand jury transcripts.
Bonds' attorneys sent a letter Thursday to an agent for the authors of "Game of Shadows," alerting them of plans to sue the writers, publisher Gotham Books, the San Francisco Chronicle and Sports Illustrated, which published excerpts this month.
The letter, signed by Alison Berry Wilkinson, an associate of Bonds' lead attorney, Michael Rains, was posted on the Chronicle's Web Site. A hearing was tentatively scheduled for Friday in San Francisco Superior Court.
"The reason we filed the lawsuit in the simplest terms possible is to prevent the authors from promoting themselves and profiting from illegal conduct," Rains told The Associated Press on Thursday.
He said laws prohibit people from possessing grand jury materials unless they are unsealed and said authors Mark Fainaru-Wada and Lance Williams, both also reporters for the Chronicle, "have made a complete farce of the criminal justice system."
The book, released Thursday, claims Bonds used steroids, human growth hormone, insulin and other banned substances for at least five seasons beginning in 1998.
"We certainly stand by our reporters and the reporting they did for us," Chronicle executive vice president and editor Phil Bronstein said. "Nothing that's happened will change that."
Bonds' legal team will ask a judge Friday to issue a temporary restraining order forfeiting all profits from publication and distribution, according to the letter. The lawyers plan to file the suit under California's unfair competition law.
The attorneys will ask a federal judge to initiate contempt proceedings for the use of "illegally obtained" grand jury transcripts the authors used in writing the book. Rains said profits should be forfeited because of that.
"What we're saying is, who are the real cheaters? They are the ones who are using these illegally obtained materials," Rains said.
Williams and Fainaru-Wada said the book will stand up to a court challenge.
"I don't know what the legal action they contemplate is," Williams said. "Gotham can speak to the legal issues, but the facts in our book are true and they will stand up to scrutiny."
"We fully stand behind our reporting of the book," Fainaru-Wada added.
Lisa Johnson, a spokeswoman for publisher Gotham Books, said the publisher supports both authors. "We at Gotham Books are shocked that Barry Bonds would take such a foolish step," she said. "Any respected First Amendment lawyer in America knows that his claim is nonsense."
Rains said Bonds will not comment directly on the lawsuit but strongly supports the case.
"Barry is doing fine," Rains said. "He's had a great spring as everyone knows. His bat speaks for himself and he's not going to speak on this action and this book."
The book also claims sluggers Jason Giambi and Gary Sheffield, both now with the
New York Yankees, also used performance-enhancing drugs.
Giambi was asked about Bonds' planned suit on Thursday at the Yankees' spring camp in Tampa, Fla.
"This is all news to me. I didn't know any more of this than what you guys know," Giambi said. "I've done what I had to do last year and I've gone forward. I handled it last year, gone forward and I'm worried about winning a
World Series now. It was the best thing I needed to do."
The book claims Giambi turned to performance-enhancing drugs because he felt pressured to please his perfectionist father. "I think it's pretty pathetic that they tried to drag my father into it," Giambi said.
Fainaru-Wada told the New York Daily News for a story published Friday that the book does not draw any connections between Giambi's use of performance-enhancing drugs and his relationship with his father.
"The notion that the book said that is not accurate at all," Fainaru-Wada told the newspaper. "It's not even close."
Fainaru-Wada said the book mentions Giambi's father only to give background to the slugger's career.
"His dad was part of telling who he is and why he was driven to succeed," Fainaru-Wada said. "The connection about his father being a reason he used steroids was not at all a part of that."
Sheffield would not comment on the book.
"I don't even talk about it," Sheffield said.
He's not saying the book is a pack of lies, just saying the " lies " were obtained illegally. If they were lies, why not sue for slander? Very telling IMHO.
