Roger clements trial open in washington (Baseball)

WASHINGTON -- Roger Clemens trapped himself in a "tangled web" of deceit that led him to lie to Congress about his use of performance-enhancing drugs, a federal prosecutor said Monday to open the former Yankees pitcher's perjury trial.
In an hourlong opening statement, Assistant U.S. Attorney Stephen Durham laid out the evidence he said would prove Clemens lied and made up "cover stories" to contradict evidence that he used steroids and human growth hormone in 1998, 2000 and 2001.
"Once you start saying something that is untrue you tell more lies, and you become trapped in a tangled web of your own making," Durham said about Clemens, whom he described as an aging pitcher in his late 30s under pressure to improve his performance.
"The story that will unfold over the next few days and weeks is a story of deceit and dishonesty and betrayal," Durham said. It will tell a "story of vanity and ego and pride."
Defense attorney Rusty Hardin will deliver his opening statement Tuesday. He has indicated that he will try to discredit the government's star witness, Clemens' former trainer, Brian McNamee, as a liar.
Durham anticipated Hardin's attacks on McNamee, saying the defense would save the "sharpest knives" for the trainer. And the prosecutor said of the 15 misleading statements the indictment charges Clemens with making, "We could prove seven if McNamee never walked into this courtroom at all."
Dressed in a dark suit and light-colored tie, Clemens sat, leaning forward throughout Durham's opening statement, alternating between resting his head on his left hand and jotting down notes.
This case, Durham said, is about "accountability" for Clemens, noting that the former pitcher had lied to a February 2008 congressional hearing after taking an oath to tell the truth when "he raised his right hand, his pitching hand, the same hand that won him 354 games."
As he did last summer, Durham said the case will be proved by documents, witnesses including Yankees pitcher Andy Pettitte, and a needle and cotton swabs that McNamee kept from August 2001 that Durham said tested positive for both traces of anabolic steroids and Clemens' DNA.
Clemens was indicted in 2010 of one count of obstruction of Congress, three counts of false statements and two of perjury on charges he lied to Congress when he denied to a House committee in 2008 that he used steroids and HGH. If convicted, Clemens faces 15 to 21 months in prison.
This is the second trial for Clemens. U.S. District Judge Reggie Walton declared a mistrial nine months ago on the second day of testimony because prosecutors introduced inadmissible evidence.
Earlier Monday, Walton delivered a blow to the prosecution when he decided to bar Pettitte's testimony that it was McNamee who injected him with HGH in 2002 because of concerns the jury might reach a "guilt by association" verdict. McNamee said he also injected Clemens with steroids and HGH.