Clemens perjury trial resumes after 5-day break

[April 30, 2012]  WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Roger Clemens perjury trial is resuming after a five-day break. The prosecution's first witness, congressional staffer Phil Barnett, will return to the stand Monday after beginning his testimony last Tuesday.

Clemens, a seven-time Cy Young Award winner, is accused of lying to Congress when, at a hearing and deposition that preceded it, he denied taking steroids or human growth hormone.

Barnett was the majority staff director on the committee that deposed the baseball great in 2008. The government is using Barnett to help establish that Congress had authority to investigate drug use in sports.

Clemens' lawyer has raised questions about the investigation.

Barnett happens to be the witness who was on the stand last year when a mistrial was declared because the government introduced inadmissible evidence on videotape.

[Associated Press; By FREDERIC J. FROMMER]

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