Judge Declares Clemens Mistrial

There are no mulligans in baseball, but the courtroom—like the golf course—may be about to see one. During just the second day of testimony in the trial of former baseball great Roger Clemens, Judge Reggie Walton called a recess and declared a mistrial. Clemens is accused of lying to lawmakers by saying he’d never used steroids or human growth hormone. But prosecutors showed a video Thursday that mentioned a former teammate’s wife’s comments that Clemens admitted to using the substances. Walton had ruled that jurors could not be told that the wife of Andy Pettitte confirmed that Clemens made the confession, saying it was hearsay. Walton scolded prosecutors, saying, “I think a first year law student would know that you can’t bolster the credibility of a witness with clearly inadmissible evidence.”