It’s unclear if Andy Pettitte and Chuck Knoblauch will be completely eliminated from the Roger Clemens trial, but the judge ruled this morning that they will not be permitted to testify about Brian McNamee providing them performance enhancing drugs as a means of establishing that, yes, it may be likely that Clemens got some too.
This is a different tack that the judge in the Barry Bonds case took, in which other BALCO clients and former Bonds teammates testified about their own drug use. Presumably, Pettitte, to the extent he has something to say on the matter, could still testify regarding his personal knowledge of Clemens’ own drug use.
At the same time, the judge also indicated that he would likely bar the introduction of evidence related to Brian McNamee’s alleged rape of a woman in a Florida pool back in 2001. Again, it’s unclear if just the underlying incident will be barred as inflammatory and prejudicial or if the police’s impressions that McNamee lied to them would be barred as well. Those things may be too difficult to untangle from one another, of course.
All in all, however, it sounds like the judge is going for a streamlined case. Which, frankly, may be the best thing for everyone.