Bonds' case put on hold for 3 months while government seeks new charges

SAN FRANCISCO — The perjury case against Barry Bonds was put on hold for three months Friday, with prosecutors telling a federal judge they plan to obtain a new indictment against baseball's home run king.

U.S. District Judge Susan Illston had told prosecutors on Feb. 29 to fix their original indictment because it lumped multiple allegations into too few counts. Illston said that prosecutors needed to drop some of the allegations from the indictment or add more charges.

At a brief court hearing Friday, assistant U.S. attorney Matt Parrella didn't say when the government will ask a grand jury for a new indictment. Illston ordered the ides to return to court June 6, making it likely any trail would not start before 2009.

Bonds was indicted in November on four counts of perjury and one count of obstruction of justice, charges stemming from 2003 grand-jury testimony in which he denied knowingly taking illegal performance-enhancing drugs.

Bonds was let go by the San Francisco Giants. The 43-year-old outfielder remains a free agent and wants to play this year.