U.S. District Judge Reggie Walton has declared a mistrial in the case against Roger Clemens for perjury. Following a video of U.S. Rep. Elijah Cummings’ statements this morning in which the Congressman mentioned evidence — including testimony by Laura Pettitte — that the judge had ruled barred from the case, Walton determined that the current trial could not go forward without prejudice against the former baseball star. “Sadly I have reached a conclusion that to permit this case to go forward with the government having done what it did, Mr. Clemens will not get a fair trial before this jury,” he said. “So I will declare a mistrial.”
A mistrial doesn’t mean that Clemens is out of the woods yet or that the government will be forced to drop its case. Rather, it simply means that this jury pool has been tainted. The two sides will argue over the summer as to whether or not a second trial would subject Clemens to double jeopardy, and Judge Walton said he will hold a hearing on Sept. 2 to decide if a second trial can constitutionally go forward. The government, meanwhile, will continue to spend money on this witch hunt. (For more on the technicalities of this mistrial, check out The Washington Post’s coverage.)
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