Three counts tossed from Bonds case

11 more to go, hopefully he's found guilty of at least five -

http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20081124&content_id=3690901&vkey=news_mlb&fext=.jsp&c_id=mlb

federal judge on Monday threw out three counts in the government's perjury case against Barry Bonds, but left intact most of the felony charges.
Judge Susan Illston agreed with Bonds' lawyers that one count was repetitive, another included an answer by Bonds to a grand jury that was too vague and that a third included an ambiguous question. She also ordered that two other counts be merged.

Bonds, who is alleged to have made false statements under oath regarding his use of performance-enhancing drugs, still faces 12 counts in the case, which is scheduled to go to trial on March 2 in U.S. District Court in the Northern District of California.

Illston denied a defense request to dismiss seven other counts, and said that federal prosecutors must also clarify one other charge. The merged counts means that Bonds is expected to face 11 charges at trial.

Federal prosecutors can choose to refile the dismissed charges or proceed with the remaining allegations against Bonds.

Bonds, Major League Baseball's all-time leader with 762 career homers, first appeared before a grand jury investigating the Bay Area Laboratory Co-Operative on allegations of money laundering and illegally dispensing performance-enhancing drugs on Dec. 4, 2003.

On numerous occasions Bonds was asked and responded that he never used anabolic steroids, testosterone and human growth hormone or had been administered any of those drugs with a needle during the period from 2000 to 2002. The feds say that they have a Bonds positive drug test seized during a raid of BALCO's headquarters in 2003.

Monday's ruling isn't expected to alter the overall perjury case. The original indictment was filed on Nov. 15, 2007, but was judged earlier this year by Illston to be ambiguous and repetitive, and was sent back to federal prosecutors to be rewritten and clarified.