Clemens' trainer stashed medical waste, now evidence

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The star prosecution witness in Roger Clemens' perjury trial testified on Tuesday that he secretly stashed medical waste that became evidence of the former ace pitcher's alleged use of performance-enhancing drugs.

Brian McNamee, Clemens' former trainer, later assured Clemens he would never betray him over his alleged drug use.

McNamee testified he injected Clemens with human growth hormone and anabolic steroids on multiple occasions from 1998 to 2001. He said he and his wife, Eileen, argued repeatedly about him administering the illegal drugs.

McNamee decided to keep some of the drug waste in August 2001 to ease his wife's concerns that he would be held responsible.

"She'd say, 'You're going to go down, you're going to go down,'" McNamee, 45, told jurors in U.S. District Court.

"What would make her not give me a hard time all the time? It had to stop. I brought it (the used drug paraphernalia) home and she stopped. She looked away and that was it."

"I knew I was dealing with illegal substances," he said.

Clemens, 49, is being tried for a second time on federal charges of lying to the U.S. House of Representatives' Committee on Oversight and Government Reform in 2008, which was investigating drug use in Major League Baseball. His first trial ended in a mistrial last year.

The medical waste is a key part of prosecutors' evidence against Clemens, a record seven-time winner of the annual Cy Young Awards as best pitcher. He is among the biggest names implicated in drug use in baseball.

A former baseball strength coach, McNamee worked with Clemens when the right-hander pitched for the Blue Jays and later with the Yankees. He also worked as Clemens' personal trainer.

Clemens' lawyers have called McNamee a liar and were expected to explore his alleged problems with alcohol and scrapes with law enforcement.

Whether the jury believes McNamee will be a major factor in determining the trial's outcome. He is expected to spend several days on the stand.

KEEPING THE WASTE

McNamee testified he typically discarded used needles, vials, broken ampoules and other waste by putting them in a can or plastic bottle and throwing them away.

But after an August 2001 steroid injection session at Clemens' Manhattan apartment, McNamee put the waste in an empty Miller Lite beer can he found in Clemens' kitchen. He took the can home to his house in Queens, showed it to his wife, and stored it in a cedar closet tucked into a FedEx envelope.

Clemens also asked McNamee to dispose of pills, needles and ampoules when the pitcher was moving from his Manhattan apartment in 2002. Instead, the trainer stashed them along with the medical waste at home, he said.

In an email exchange, McNamee also assured a worried Clemens in 2006 that he would not say anything about players' drug use. Clemens had been concerned after the Los Angeles Times reported that he and five other players were the ones mentioned in a redacted federal affidavit on alleged drug use in baseball.

"If it has anything to do with me in regards to being a rat or flipping on you or anyone of my clients, I will hop on a plane, find you, and slap you very hard," McNamee said in an email that is part of the trial's evidence.

The trial is starting its fourth week. Clemens faces one count of obstruction of Congress, three counts of making a false statement and two counts of perjury

Judge Reggie Walton dismissed a second juror for sleeping during testimony. The dismissal trims the jury to 12 jurors and two alternates.

(Editing by Doina Chiacu)

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