Barry Bonds Trial Hears From Arthur Ting, Kathy Hoskins

Back with more from the Barry Bonds trial! Who cares about Opening Day, anyway?

On the trial’s last day this week - remember that the courtroom is dark on Friday - the government has so far called Dr. Arthur Thing and Kathy Hoskins to the stand. Ting is Bonds’ former orthopedic surgeon, and Hoskins is Bonds’ former personal shopper, and sister of witness Steve Hoskins.

Ting, it turned out, wound up being an excellent witness for the defense, as he tore apart the earlier testimony from Steve Hoskins. Hoskins testified that he talked to Ting about steroids around 50 times, and that he asked for some relevant literature to take back to Bonds. Ting said that they talked once, and never about Bonds and steroids. Ting also testified that Bonds was afraid of needles, and that he had another trainer - Harvey Shields - who liked to use flaxseed oil.

Additionally, Ting recalled prescribing corticosteroids to Bonds for purposes of rehabilitation. Corticosteroids are legal and commonly used, and they happen to share many of the same side effects as regular steroids. Bonds’ defense lawyer took care to point this out.

Ting was a great help to Bonds, and after he was dismissed, judge Illston questioned whether the prosecution knew beforehand that Hoskins and Ting would share such different testimony. The prosecution didn’t come out of this looking good.

Next to the stand was Kathy Hoskins, who the government hoped would work a little more in their favor. After discussing her history with Bonds, Hoskins got to the meat of the matter, saying that Greg Anderson was always hanging around Bonds, and that one time in 2002 she observed Anderson inject Bonds in the belly button. Upon cross-examination, Cris Arguedas is attempting to suggest that Kathy and her brother Steve have been working together to bring Bonds down, but Kathy has insisted that Steve actually “threw [her] under the bus” and caused her to have to testify.

That’s where we are now, with Hoskins still on the stand. Worth noting:

Stay tuned. Recall that Bonds is facing five different charges. But he’s had a good morning.

Follow along in this StoryStream for updates, and also get more information from SB Nation Bay Area’s Barry Bonds trial coverage, for which David Fucillo will be live-blogging - and live-tweeting - from the courtroom. You can follow on Twitter @SBNBayArea.