Judge says unsealed MLB affidavit shows 'abusive reporting'

An Oct. 1, 2006 Los Angeles Times article on allegations of steroid use in Major League Baseball contained so many inaccuracies that a judge overseeing the case unsealed an affidavit because, he says, he was "compelled to point out what appear[ed] to be an example of abusive reporting."

The unsealing of the affidavit — previously released with players’ names redacted — came 18 months after the article ran containing "significant inaccuracies," according to the U.S. attorney in San Francisco.  On Dec. 20, District Court Judge Edward C. Voss in Phoenix granted the government’s motion to unseal the affidavit of Jason Grimsley, a former pitcher who had accused players including Jose Canseco, Glenallen Hill and Lenny Dykstra of using steriods. The Times article had put Grimsley’s affidavit as naming also Roger Clemens and Andy Pettite, among others, which was refuted by the unsealed affidavit.

For its part, the Times made repeated attempts to get the government to clarify what its inaccuracies were, but received no answers. It issued a correction upon the release of the affidavit.