SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -A federal appeals court said Thursday it will reconsider its earlier ruling granting federal investigators use of the names and urine samples of about 100 major leaguers who tested positive for performance-enhancing drugs.
A divided 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals originally overturned three lower court decisions barring authorities from accessing the names. Access to the names could bolster the perjury case against Barry Bonds, who is charged with lying to a grand jury about whether he used steroids.
Investigators seized computer files containing the test results in 2004 during raids of labs involved in MLB’s drug testing program. The samples were collected at baseball’s direction the previous year as part of a survey to gauge the prevalence of steroid use.
Players and owners agreed in their labor contract that the results would be confidential, and each player was assigned a code number to be matched with his name.
The 9th Circuit did not set a timetable for reconsidering the case.
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