CSI: MLB

The Roger Clemens/Brian McNamee saga has taken another weird turn.

The lawyers for trainer Brian McNamee dropped a bombshell Wednesday, claiming they gave federal prosecutors physical evidence that proves Roger Clemens used performance-enhancing drugs.

The New York Daily News, citing an anonymous source close to McNamee, reported the evidence will include syringes McNamee says were used to inject Clemens with human growth hormone and steroids, in addition to empty bottles and gauze.

"I think this is a significant point in the case," said McNamee's lead lawyer, Earl Ward. "We believe that this is significant corroboration."

Clemens attorney Lanny Breuer attacked McNamee's credibility in a statement.

"Brian McNamee is obviously a troubled man who is obsessed with doing everything possible to destroy Roger Clemens," Breuer said.

[...]

Clemens could open himself up to prosecution if it's proved he lied under oath about using performance-enhancing drugs. Richard Emery, another of McNamee's lawyers, said the committee will be given a description of the evidence that was turned over to prosecutors.

"It does change the nature of the case from a 'he said, she said' to something about physical evidence," Emery said.

[...]

Emery said McNamee's legal team planned to hold a news conference after their client's deposition in Washington today and will discuss the evidence in greater detail then. Clemens' camp could contend the evidence was tampered with, considering it was alleged to have been collected seven years ago.

"(McNamee) has changed his story repeatedly on this matter," Breuer said. "He claims to love Roger Clemens. He says he modeled being a father on Roger Clemens. He said Roger treated him like family -- but he now claims he kept blood, gauze and needles from Roger Clemens for seven years. It defies all sensibility. It is just not credible. Who in their right mind does such a thing?"

As noted by the commenters in David Pinto's post, there are multiple problems with McNamee's claim. Who can vouch for the chain of custody? What does this actually prove, given that Clemens admits McNamee injected him, just not with steroids? What kind of person holds onto this stuff? And why wasn't it mentioned in the Mitchell Report? Strange, very strange.

One more thing, as noted by FanHouse: You may be able to tell what's in those syringes, but you can't say when it got there.

Scientific experts said there was no known method to date steroids or human growth hormone.

The syringes, vials and gauze pads are said to date from 2000 and 2001, part of a four-year period in which McNamee contends he gave Clemens drug injections. But even if the physical evidence tests positive for Clemens's DNA and, say, steroids, Clemens's lawyers could argue that McNamee added steroid traces to the original evidence in a bid to incriminate Clemens, experts say.

"You can test to figure out what the substance is, but you cannot figure out how old it is," Dr. Don Catlin, the former director of the Olympic testing lab at U.C.L.A., said in a telephone interview.

There is no way to date blood either, Catlin said, which means there may not be a conclusive way to establish that the syringes, vials and pads were from 2000 and 2001.

It's certainly possible that this is what McNamee says it is. But on its face, this evidence does little to advance the case against Clemens.

Posted by Charles Kuffner on February 07, 2008 to Baseball