Bonds' testimony made public

SAN FRANCISCO — A federal judge on Friday unsealed Barry Bonds' grand jury testimony, an order that would make public what the home run king said under oath about his use of performance-enhancing drugs.

Federal prosecutors accused Bonds of lying under oath during his December 2003 testimony to a grand jury investigating steroid use in professional sports, and a separate grand jury indicted him on four counts of perjury and one count of obstruction.

U.S. District Judge Susan Illston signed an order Friday making Bonds' testimony public after ordering prosecutors to amend Bonds' indictment so each of the five counts against him doesn't cite multiple allegedly false statements. Prosecutors originally accused Bonds of lying 19 different times during his grand jury appearance.

The indictment, unsealed last November, cites snippets of testimony in which Bonds denies ever ingesting steroids or human growth hormone. It quotes Bonds denying his personal trainer Greg Anderson ever injected him with steroids, which prosecutors alleged was a lie.

Illston agreed with Bonds' attorney Dennis Riordan on Friday that prosecutors must edit out many of the alleged lies or seek a new indictment, which could contain more charges.

Although Bonds is technically no longer under indictment, the practical effect of the ruling was to delay the case until prosecutors address the problems. Prosecutors are expected to decide whether to seek a new indictment before Bonds' next court date on March 21. They declined comment outside court.

Bonds was not required to attend Friday's hearing and has been excused him from the next court date, too.

Bonds, who has not signed with a team for the 2008 season, posted a message on his Web site Thursday: "I have been getting a lot of e-mails asking what I've been up to this past offseason. This winter has been the first time in my career that I've had the chance to take time for myself and really enjoy the time off."