Judge orders Barry Bonds' 2003 grand jury testimony about steroids unsealed and made public

SAN FRANCISCO " A federal judge ordered Friday that Barry Bonds' grand jury testimony be unsealed, and what the home run king said under oath about his use of performance-enhancing drugs soon will be made public.

Bonds is charged with four counts of perjury and one count of obstruction for allegedly lying 19 different times during his December 2003 testimony to a grand jury investigating steroid use in professional sports.

The indictment, unsealed last November, cites snippets of testimony where 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 allege is a lie.

On Friday, U.S. District Court Judge Susan Illston ordered federal prosecutors to amend Bonds' indictment so each of the five counts against him don't include multiple alleged false statements.

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

The November indictment came just three months after the San Francisco Giants star broke Hank Aaron's career home run record, and it culminated a four-year investigation into steroid use by elite athletes.

Prosecutors are expected to decide whether to seek a new indictment before Bonds' next court date on March 21. They declined comment outside court.

The judge allowed Bonds to skip the hearing Friday and excused him from attending the next court date.

During his grand jury appearance in 2003, prosecutors also presented Bonds with a drug test showing a positive steroids result for a player they called "Barry B." Bonds said he never before saw those results.

Investigators also say they seized other evidence, including an alleged "doping calendar" maintained by Anderson, who spent about a year in jail for refusing to help investigators.

Anderson, who was released after Bonds was indicted, is expected to be called to testify if Bonds' case goes to trial. Anderson maintains that he will refuse to testify if ordered, making it likely he would return to prison if the Bonds case does go to trial.