Prosecutors to seek new Barry Bonds indictment

By Adam Tanner

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Federal prosecutors said on Wednesday they would seek a new indictment against home run king Barry Bonds after previous perjury charges were recently thrown out.

Last month, a federal judge ruled the U.S. government did not properly structure its charges that the seven-time National League Most Valuable Player lied to a federal ground jury about past steroid use.

"Pursuant to the Court's written order of March 4, 2008, we write to inform the Court and counsel that the government intends to seek a superseding indictment in this case," U.S. Attorney Joseph Russoniello wrote in a legal filing.

He did not provide further details.

After years investigating doping in professional sports, prosecutors suffered a setback on February 29 when federal Judge Susan Illston ruled the government made overly broad arguments in its four perjury counts.

The judge agreed with Bonds' lawyers that the charges were duplicitous, meaning they improperly included two or more offenses in a single count. The government could tailor new charges more narrowly to avoid that issue in the future.

The government maintains Bonds lied in 2003 when he told a federal grand jury investigating the BALCO nutrition lab he had never knowingly used performance-enhancing drugs. Last December, the former San Francisco Giant pleaded not guilty.

Lawyers are due back in court on Friday to discuss the next steps in the case.

The steroid scandal has badly tarnished the reputation of one of the greatest players in baseball history. No team has signed him for the upcoming season, but as recently as Wednesday the 43-year-old slugger said he was anxious to play.

"I'm not going to retire. I don't think that's going to happen," Bonds, who has not appeared in public recently, was quoted as telling MLB.com. "I'm working out, I'm training. If my phone rings, it rings, if it don't, it don't."

In 2007, Bonds passed Hank Aaron, the former career Major League home run king, and finished the season seven homers ahead at 762. The fan that caught that last home run ball recently put it up for online auction with the hope of attracting a bid of more than a million dollars.

(Editing by Todd Eastham)