Newspaper in Contempt of Court in Steroids Case

The San Francisco Chronicle agreed to be held in contempt of court and pay perhaps hundreds of thousands of dollars in fines for refusing to assist a federal grand jury probing who leaked to its reporters the secret testimony of Barry Bonds and other athletes, according to a court filing. The government agreed to stay any fines pending the outcome of an appeal to the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals.

The paper, citing the 1st Amendment, is refusing to abide by a grand jury subpoena ordering it to release any information it has on the reporters’ source or sources.

The two Chronicle reporters, Lance Williams and Mark Fainaru-Wada, wrote about Bonds’ 2003 testimony before a federal grand jury investigating the Bay Area Laboratory Co-Operative steroid ring.