Ratto: Verdict doesn't change Bonds' public face

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April 13, 2011RATTO ARCHIVENEWS: Bonds guilty of obstruction of justiceRay Ratto
CSNBayArea.com

OK, let us all gather and reconsider Barry Bonds.

Well now wait for the cricket noises to subside.

Even with the one verdict the jury could emit after four weeks of justice-grindingguilty of obstruction of justice -- Bonds is who he was before the trial began, and he is perceived the way he was when he retired, when he broke Henry Aarons home run record, when he broke Babe Ruths record, even when he crossed the chemical rubicon.

Those who liked and supported him still do. Those who didnt, still dont. Justice was either done or miscarried, depending on what you thought on Day One.

Thats the beauty of Barry Bonds. He made so many minds up for their owners, and they never had to change them, even once. He was the perfect victim , and the perfect villaineven now, as his future is decided for him.

His future, apparently, will be probation, according to legal brains, but probation and purgatory are separated by a fine line. He was essentially found guilty of rambling and obfuscating through his grand jury testimony, rather than any specific count that led to steroid use. You know, the Kathy Hoskins I saw Greg Anderson inject something into him testimony.

As a result, there really is no resolution to this case, and now there never will be. The jury was dismissed, the case ended (unless the prosecution wants to go for broke and retry the other counts, or even reconstruct the case from scratch from a different direction). We are left with what we started withBarry Bonds, hero andor villain.

Depending not on him, but on everyone else who ever cared about him or his deeds. In other words, the status remains maddeningly quo.

Ray Ratto is a columnist for CSNBayArea.com.

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