On Monday, Kimberly Bell took the stand for the prosecution. Bell was Barry Bonds' mistress-girlfriend from 1994 through 2003 at which time he told her "to disappear," as she put it.
According to people in court for her testimony, Bell was methodically taken through the chronology of her time with Bonds, from their meeting in a parking lot of the Giants baseball stadium through his two marriages and one divorce until he kicked her to the curb.
Barry admitted to her that he used steroids in the 1999-2000 time frame. It wasn't an announcement, it was in answer to a question about why he had a large and protruding bump on his elbow. Here is how Bell characterized his explanation of what the 'roids did: "It somehow caused the muscles and tendons to grow faster than it could handle and it somehow blew out."
She told the court that Bonds said his steroid use was to get ahead and to keep up with others who were using and achieving great results.
Bell didn't see him inject himself with any substances but she was witness on a regular basis to her boyfriend and his trainer, Greg Anderson, going into a room with Anderson carrying a small black bag the size of a man's shaving kit.
Steve Hoskins, Bonds' former friend and business partner, testified last week to seeing the same scene during at least two and possibly three spring training camps. Bell said that when she stayed with Bonds during the spring camps she would watch the same scene on three days out of five that she would be there.
Hoskins says he recorded Greg Anderson to prove to Bonds' father he was juicing
Bonds gave her money throughout the nine years they were together and promised more. After funneling enough to her for a substantial down payment on a house in Arizona, he said he wanted to pay it off for her so she didn't have to deal with the approximately $1,200 monthy payments. That never happened.
She fell on hard times once she moved there and Bonds pulled away. She had been gainfully employed while she lived in the Bay Area near Bonds and was unable to get traction on an employment opportunity in Arizona.
After the break up she agreed to pose for Playboy, having been promised $100,000 in a fee by some photographer. She received less than $20,000 from it all and the photographer who promised it all ended up commiting suicide.
Is jail a real possibility if Bonds is convicted?
Her most emotional testimony was reserved for when she talked of his mood swings and the way he got verbally abusive and disrespectful to her. When she asked him to repeat something he had said, he would ask her, "Did I f----ing stutter?"
Kim Bell did not stutter when she described the changes to Bonds' body and how he expressed concern to her that people would think he looked bloated. He stood in front of mirrors to examine the bloating in his face and mid-section. He started losing his hair and shaved his head. His chest hair grew grey and he shaved that, too.
Bonds developed acne on his shoulders and back during the 1999-2000 time frame when he told Bell about the steroid use and what it had done to his elbow.
His testicles got smaller and odd-shaped, according to her testimony. He had erection problems that necessitated medication, making sex more difficult.
Defense attorneys were ready to take their turn at the whipping post that is Kim Bell after a morning break.
To be continued...
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