SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -The perjury case against former San Francisco Giants slugger Barry Bonds will be heard by the same federal judge who presided over cases against others linked to a steroids ring centered at a Bay Area lab.
Court documents released Tuesday show the case has been transferred to U.S. District Judge Susan Illston. The move comes at the request of federal prosecutors, who said having Illston preside over the case would be more efficient.
Illston is also presiding over the cases against Tammy Thomas, a cyclist, and Trevor Graham, the coach for disgraced Olympic sprinter Marion Jones.
Both face federal charges they lied either to federal agents or to the grand jury investigating a performance-enhancing drug ring centered at the Bay Area Laboratory Co-Operative, or BALCO.
Bonds was indicted this month on four counts of perjury and one count of obstruction of justice for allegedly lying to the grand jury when he testified he did not knowingly use performance-enhancing drugs. He is scheduled for arraignment Dec. 7.
A Flamingohead 
