Lawyers for former pitching ace Clemens wrap up case
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Lawyers for former Major League Baseball pitching ace Roger Clemens wrapped up their defense at his perjury trial on Monday, setting the stage for the jury to begin deliberations later this week following nearly two months of testimony.
Clemens, 49, is on trial for the second time on federal charges of lying in 2008 to the House of Representatives' Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, which was investigating drug use in Major League Baseball.
Clemens, who won 354 regular-season games and is a record seven-time winner of the yearly Cy Young Award as best pitcher, did not testify on his own behalf during the trial.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}He is among the biggest names implicated in drug use in baseball.
The last defense witness, former New York Yankees' security chief Jerry Laveroni, attacked the credibility of Clemens' former trainer Brian McNamee, whose testimony has been the core of the government's case.
Laveroni knew McNamee when Clemens played for the Yankees.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Clemens' lawyers alleged that McNamee asked Laveroni to destroy evidence related to an alleged rape at the Yankees' team hotel in St. Petersburg, Florida, in 2001.
"I don't believe (McNamee) could be believed under oath," Laveroni said. He was not allowed to speak in court about the specifics of the incident in Florida.
McNamee, Clemens' former strength coach, has testified he personally administered shots of anabolic steroids and human growth hormone to Clemens between 1998 and 2001.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}He said he kept needles, cotton balls, a broken steroid ampoule and other medical waste for years. Prosecutors have said some of the items contain Clemens' DNA and traces of steroids.
Clemens' lawyers have worked to paint McNamee as a liar who obtained immunity in exchange for his testimony.
The defense team sought to depict Clemens as a hard worker whose stunning late-career success was the product of dedication and smart pitching, not performance-enhancing drugs.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Clemens won his final Cy Young Award in 2004 - the summer he turned 42 - in his first season with the Houston Astros.
After resting their case, defense lawyers read aloud a statement agreed upon between the defense and prosecution, noting that under professional baseball rules, Clemens had been tested randomly for anabolic steroids between 2003 and 2007 and had never tested positive.
He was not tested for human growth hormone.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The prosecution and defense will make closing statements before the jury begins deliberating this week.
(Reporting by Lily Kuo; editing by Dan Burns and Jim Loney)