NewsClemens files appeal in defamation case
Houston judge tossed most of suit against former trainerBy Barry M. Bloom / MLB.com
09/22/09 8:13 PM ET
The ongoing battle between Brian McNamee and Roger Clemens, regarding the pitcher's alleged use of performance-enhancing drugs, continued on Tuesday as the former Cy Young Award winner filed notice with the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, regarding a Houston judge's decision to toss most of his defamation suit against the former trainer.
At the same time, McNamee has filed his own defamation suit in a New York court alleging that the right-hander who recorded 354 career victories cost him his reputation and clients. Clemens has also been under investigation by a federal grand jury for lying under oath at a Congressional hearing last year.
The perjury allegations regarded McNamee's statements that he personally administered steroids and human growth hormone when Clemens played for the Blue Jays and the Yankees from 1998 to 2001. On Jan. 6, 2008, Clemens filed the original defamation law suit against McNamee in Houston, but at first the judge threw out most of the charges, saying that McNamee's statements about Clemens were protected by an immunity agreement he signed with federal officers who sought his testimony. Those statements became public when former Sen. George Mitchell released his report about the use of performance-enhancing drugs in Major League Baseball on Dec. 13, 2007. McNamee was required to speak to Mitchell as a condition of his agreement with federal officials. The judge in Houston threw out the remainder of Clemens' case this past Aug. 28.Barry M. Bloom is a national reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.
