The Barry Bonds case is over. Bonds, as we speak, is being sentenced. The penalty: 30 days of house arrest, two years of probation and 250 hours of community service. This, by the way, is what the probation office recommended. Prosecutors were seeking a 15 month jail term.
In handing out her sentence, the judge observed that she agreed with the jury that Bonds tried to obstruct justice. Just that he failed. She noted that he did not threaten witnesses, for example. When I first read his grand jury testimony three and a half years ago I observed the same thing. You can tell Barry wanted to perjure himself. He just was pretty damn bad at it.
The judge also noted that the sentence took into account that Bonds has a strong record of philanthropy, much of which is unpublicized. Weighing against that, I presume, is that he is a lousy stinkin’ cheater who robbed some sportswriters of their childhood memories.
Of course, there was some pathetic desperation on the part of the prosecution during the hearing. When trying to argue against the light sentence, the prosecutor said that Bonds planned to lie ahead of time and that he kept mistresses and lived a double life for years. The judge, not having it, noted that Bonds wasn’t convicted of any of that. It’s something the prosecution and most of the people sitting in moral judgment of Barry Bonds have never quite gotten their minds around, but there you go.
I don’t know about you, but I would feel more secure walking the mean streets of Los Altos Hills tonight, knowing that Barry Bonds is secure behind the bars of the home security system that cost more than many public schools.
UPDATE: Bonds won’t even have to serve any of that now. The judge has stayed (delayed) the sentence until after Bonds’ appeal of his conviction is heard. Which will take some time. And, in my opinion, may very well prevail.