Barry Bonds

[somerfrost]

Originally Posted by pgardn

Now we get down to how one is found guilty. I must state again in the case of Bonds we are not in a court of law. MLB holds the cards. And in some instances, it is probably more prudent to prove that you did not commit some act, rather than you must be found guilty by a jury of your peers beyond a reasonable doubt.
Not all decisions of guilt or innonence are established by a court of law. If my parents had to resort to the courts when I "was" a little rat and proclaimed I did not eat our dog's food... finding the crumbs of food on my face was enough evidence. I could have said I fell face first into the dog's food and then it all just got caught in my mouth...

In Vick's case he can be tried by court system if enough evidence is even found to present an indictment.
If we had to go through a court system in the public schools about what a kid did or did not do, we would be bogged down forever.
If we have a camera that shows a kid putting graffiti on the wall he/she is sent to alternative school. There is a small hearing if the kid wishes to challenge the school district. If the kid wants to go to the court system then the school district goes through the court system. But in these instances, the standards applied in a court of law are way to cumbersome. It is up to the accused and convicted (by the district) to take it to the court system.

And even the court system is flawed.
I think there are very few people in the US that believe OJ did not kill his wife and is still searching for the killers at Wimbeldon and on golf courses.

I do understand your concern about certain allegations going public as in printed papers. But there are all sorts of levels that can be used to establish what did or did not happen. The court system is not the only method used, as valuable as it is. I happen to believe that Bond's used steroids based on all I have read. (Especially based on what Z put up about Bonds proclaiming that he may have been given steriods but did not know it).
This wont be taken to court unless MLB takes the record Bond's will surely break away from him based on steroid use. Or... if Bonds is found to have lied to a grand jury and other evidence comes to light and MLB nullifies the record at a later date.

Again, stating as you did above, that you think he used roids is different than saying he did for a fact! That's where my problem comes in!

Originally Posted by somerfrost

Again, stating as you did above, that you think he used roids is different than saying he did for a fact! That's where my problem comes in!

I personally could never say he did for a fact. Even if he admitted he used steriods. It could be he just gives in to the pressure. Furthermore if Barry shot up right in front of me and told me he was shooting steriods, I could not say for a fact he was shooting up steroids. So there is a gray area between opinion and fact.

Sounds like a bunch of hooey but I confess to have problems with this being a science guy and understanding the problems of reconstructing events from diff. viewpoints. None of us where eyewitnesses to any of this so its hard to establish when something becomes a fact. And there are clearly diff. types of facts with diff. levels of certainty.