Bonds steroids case is dropped

After a nearly decade-long steroids prosecution, Barry Bonds emerged victorious Tuesday when federal prosecutors dropped what was left of their criminal case against the career home runs leader.

The government’s pursuit of Bonds ended quietly with a one-paragraph motion by the U.S. Department of Justice announcing Solicitor Gen. Donald B. Verrilli Jr. will not ask the U.S. Supreme Court to review the appellate decision that overturned Bonds’ obstruction of justice conviction.

A jury found the former San Francisco Giants star guilty in 2011 for giving a meandering answer to a federal grand jury in 2003 when asked whether his personal trainer gave him anything that required a syringe for self-injection. An 11-judge panel of the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals overturned that conviction in April, and the government had until Wednesday to file for a Supreme Court review.

The jury deadlocked on three counts accusing Bonds of making false statements when he denied receiving steroids or human growth hormone or any substance that required a syringe for self-injection from the trainer, Greg Anderson. The government dismissed those counts in August 2011, and the 9th Circuit barred a retrial on the obstruction charge, citing double jeopardy.

Major League Baseball had no immediate comment.