Judge urged to bar some Clemens' lawyers arguments

WASHINGTON (AP) — Federal prosecutors in the Roger Clemens perjury trial want the judge to bar Clemens' lawyers from arguments they say will encourage jurors to nullify the law and acquit regardless of the evidence.

In a motion Monday, prosecutors urged Judge Reggie Walton to prevent defense lawyers from repeating their opening pitch from last year's trial that told jurors to put themselves in Clemens' shoes.

That case ended in a mistrial after prosecutors showed jurors inadmissible evidence. Clemens, one of the game's most successful all-time pitchers, is accused of lying under oath when he testified before Congress in February 2008 that he never used performance-enhancing drugs in his career. Prosecutors will try to prove he used steroids and human growth hormone. Clemens says the evidence was manufactured by his former trainer.