Professor Katherine Darmer was quoted in several articles on this date relating to the Roger Clemens steroids story: “Could Roger Be Charged With Perjury? Legal Experts Debate Whether Federal Prosecutors Will Indict Clemens” at abcnews.com (read article…); “Waxman has options but won’t commit on Clemens” in The Los Angeles Times (read article…); “A loss for Roger Clemens” in the Seattle Times (read article…). Professor Darmer was also interviewed for a detailed piece that appeared at MLB.com on February 13, 2008 entitled “Clemens’ testimony not credible.” Read article…

Quotes from the Seattle Times included:

“It is true that McNamee has lied in the past,” Darmer said. “But the type of lies he told — ones where he tended to minimize his own conduct and cover up for his former friends and clients — are quite typical of how people often initially behave when caught in wrongdoing.

“Had he made demonstrably false allegations implicating innocent ballplayers, then his testimony should be viewed skeptically. However, all the hearing established today was that it took him awhile to be willing to come clean.

“Almost no large-scale wrongdoing comes to light through choirboys, and McNamee is no angel. But his allegations have been substantiated by others whose integrity is solid, including Pettitte.”

Quotes from abcnews.com included:

“He did terribly — what killed him was the fact that [Andy] Pettitte totally verified the credibility of McNamee.”

“Looking at it from a lawyer’s perspective,” she added, “they could go after him for perjury and witness tampering. When you can’t pursue someone for the underlying bad thing, they fall back on perjury and witness tampering. Look at Barry Bonds, Scooter Libby, Martha Stewart.”

Darmer said she thought that McNamee’s reputation as a liar would not prevent federal prosecutors from using him as an effective witness.

“You get bad guys by using bad guys,” she explained. “If you get a guy who shot someone in their basement, you have to find somebody else involved in the wrongdoing, not Mother Theresa. I was impressed with him as a corroborating witness.”

Quotes from the story on MLB.com included:

Katherine Darmer, a former assistant U.S. attorney in New York and an expert on criminal procedure, said that Clemens did not come across as credible and that it would not be surprising to see the former big league hurler experience more legal troubles in days to come.

“I thought Roger Clemens did not come across well,” said Darmer, a professor of law at Chapman (Calif.) University. “Coming at it from pretty much an open mind, I just thought he was not credible. He’s obviously got a lot to lose with his denials, but if I were his lawyer or his family, I’d be worried about perjury charges.”

Darmer said that Clemens may have been ill-advised to testify before Congress, especially after Rep. Henry Waxman (D-Calif.), the chairman of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, said Wednesday that he was prepared to shy away from holding the hearing.

Quotes from the piece that appeared in the story in the Los Angeles Times included:

“If I was Clemens’ lawyer or one of his family members, I’d be concerned those charges are coming,” said Katherine Darmer, a Chapman University law professor.

“And if they end up having physical evidence, it’s a slam dunk.”
Most damaging to Clemens, Darmer said, was the deposition testimony of his longtime friend and teammate Andy Pettitte, who told committee investigators that Clemens told him in 1999 that he’d used human growth hormone.

A more-detached Darmer said Pettitte “substantiates the charges. There’s no reason for this guy to lie.”