Interview with Conte 20/20

ABC 10pm this Friday

A little bit of an intro to the interview:

Dismissal denied in Balco case

CONTE'S TV APPEARANCE OVERSHADOWS COURT DATE

By Pete Carey and Elliott Almond

Mercury News

The main Balco Laboratories defendant's vow to ``tell the whole truth'' about sports and drugs in a television interview upstaged his lawyer's request Wednesday for a dismissal because of pretrial publicity.

U.S. District Judge Susan Illston brushed aside requests for a dismissal in the case, in which four Bay Area men are accused of giving illegal performance-enhancing drugs to elite athletes. The defense sought a dismissal on the grounds of government misconduct and damaging pre-trial publicity.

Illston instead scheduled another hearing Jan. 31 to discuss the defense's contention that federal agents' original searches in the case were illegal. Illston said she wants a trial to begin in March.

News reports that Balco President Victor Conte Jr. will tell all on ABC's ``20/20'' on Friday were called ``incredible'' by Assistant U.S. Attorney Jeff Nedrow. He held up a copy of a Mercury News story about the ABC special for Illston to see.

Robert Holley, who represents Conte, told Illston he didn't know the interview was coming until he read about it in the Mercury News on Tuesday. He said he knew his client had done an interview but thought it would be aired after the trial and had no idea what its contents were.

Conte left little doubt about the contents of his interview in comments after the hearing:

``The world deserves to know the truth about performance-enhancing drugs. I'm going to tell it for all the right reasons. The truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth will be told by Victor Conte.''

The report will air Friday at 10 p.m. on Channel 7.

At next month's hearing, the government will probably call witnesses to testify about statements Conte and Balco Vice President James Valente gave to investigators during a Sept. 3, 2003, search of the lab's Burlingame headquarters.

Investigators say the Balco executives admitted they gave illegal performance-enhancing drugs to 27 athletes, including football and baseball stars and Olympic athletes. Conte and Valente have since denied making the statements and have complained that they were interviewed under intimidating circumstances.

The validity of government warrants and searches is likely to be discussed at the hearing. The defense is questioning whether warrants were properly given to the suspects during the 2003 raid and whether a search of Conte's storage locker was handled correctly. Also at issue is a warrant involving a third defendant, Greg Anderson, the personal trainer of Giants left fielder Barry Bonds.

Anderson's lawyer, J. Tony Serra, noted after the hearing that Conte's and Valente's statements were incorporated into a later search warrant for Anderson's condominium. If the interviews are thrown out, he said, it could help Anderson.

Serra praised Conte for saying ``his piece'' and availing himself of the First Amendment ``the way it was meant to be.'' The government, on the other hand, has no First Amendment right to leak information to the press, he said.

Nedrow said the government has never leaked information about the case.

Illston ordered Nedrow to give the defense transcripts of recent grand jury testimony and documents defense lawyers complained were being withheld. Holley seemed particularly interested in the testimony of shot-putter C.J. Hunter, the former husband of Olympic star Marion Jones.

Illston also addressed another matter that has rankled defense lawyers -- the delivery of Balco evidence to the U.S. Senate last spring.

The judge asked Nedrow why the court hadn't been informed that the U.S. Senate had subpoenaed evidence from the case before the government complied with the order. A Senate subcommittee subsequently gave the material to the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency, which used it in an attempt to bar some Balco-linked athletes from competing in last summer's Athens Games.

Nedrow apologized, saying his office believed it had no choice but to comply with the subpoena.

The fourth defendant, Castro Valley track coach Remi Korchemny, was also in court.