Roger Clemens left the courthouse in Washington after being arraigned on a six-count indictment on Monday.
For 32 months, they have stood together -- a broad-shouldered pitcher from Houston who intimidated major league hitters across three decades, and his colorful, quotable hometown lawyer.
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On Monday, Roger Clemens and the lawyer, Rusty Hardin, stood side by side again. This time, they were in a federal courtroom, where Clemens was arraigned on charges that he made false statements before Congress in February 2008 when he testified that he never used steroids and human growth hormone.
For Major League Baseball, it was another painful moment in its effort to rid the sport of performance-enhancing drugs. For Clemens and Hardin, it was one more occasion to stand tough.
From the beginning, the two men have vigorously disputed the allegations made by Clemens's former trainer Brian McNamee that Clemens repeatedly used performance-enhancing drugs while playing for the Toronto Blue Jays and the Yankees.
On Monday, nothing changed, except now their insistence that Clemens had done nothing wrong was taking place in a particularly somber setting.
About a minute after United States District Judge Reggie B. Walton entered the courtroom at 2 p.m., his clerk asked Hardin whether Clemens had a plea to offer.
"We do," Hardin said, having risen from his seat.
Then Clemens, who had also risen, bent his head down to a microphone and in his Texas twang said, loudly, "Not guilty, your honor."
Walton set a trial date for April 5, creating the possibility that Clemens and the career home run leader Barry Bonds, who was indicted in San Francisco on similar federal charges and is scheduled to go on trial March 21, could be on trial at the same time.
Clemens, 48, will be free to travel but only in the United States, and was told to check in with the court every two weeks.
Despite the setting, which underlined the legal jeopardy in which Clemens finds himself, both he and Hardin generally appeared at ease during the arraignment, which lasted less than a half-hour.
Clemens, who wore baggy tan slacks, a light-colored tie and a dark jacket, had a stubbled goatee and bleached tips of hair. He made small talk with the courthouse marshals who ushered him out of the building after the arraignment.
Hardin, who wore a tan suit and a bright yellow tie, joked with the judge about the date of a future hearing and put his arm around a reporter who followed him as he left afterward.
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SOURCE: The New York Times
