("Clemens is Found Not Guilty of Lies in Denying Doping")
To
paraphrase Yogi, I am 90% certain he is not innocent, even if I am 100%
certain he was found not guilty. There can be a chasm between verdict
and reality, which is filled with everything from prosecutorial
ineptitude, to witnesses who carry far too heavy baggage, or juror
belief that the penalty requested does not fit the crime committed.
Reasonable doubt can take many forms and, as we have seen in the most
famous of recent criminal trials, another former sports icon walked away
from a murder many now believe he committed.
This is one more victory for the Rocket as another strikeout victim
heads back to the bench. Was it hubris, the ultimate belief that he was
stronger than even the Federal government, that drove him to fight the
charges? Was it his quest to assure his legacy and his place in the Hall
of Fame? Or was he actually set up by a former disgruntled employee, a
victim of Congressional headhunting and the frenzy to eradicate steroids
from the game no matter the cost to the individual defendant?
Andy Pettite, certain of his recollections in earlier comments, on
the stand announced he was 50% sure he might have "misremembered" his
best friend's admission of guilt. And maybe, like him, I am
misremembering all the damning evidence that came to light and Clemens'
unseemly allegation blaming his wife as being the actual steroid abuser
in his family. But I think not.
At least for me, innocent and not guilty still remain way more than 60 feet 6 inches apart.
No comments:
Post a Comment