Even some of Bonds’s foes are wondering whether the Feds’ pursuit of Bonds has become obsessive. Bonds’s lawyer believes that one of the government’s key witnesses is Steve Hoskins, a childhood friend and former business partner of Bonds’s who became estranged after Bonds went to the Feds and accused him of stealing. Michael Cardoza, Hoskins’s lawyer, told NEWSWEEK he couldn’t talk about what Hoskins might have told the government. He said Hoskins was a “proven truth teller” who had been “very concerned about Barry’s health” but had never abused Bonds’s trust. But Hoskins now wishes the Feds would either put up or shut up, Cardoza said: “If you’ve got him, get him. If not, move on to the next case.” Bonds’s lawyer, Michael Rains, said that the government’s main potential witnesses against Bonds, Hoskins and a former Bonds girlfriend, would have serious credibility problems if ever called to give evidence in court. “The government has a lot of problems with anyone who testifies against Barry,” Rains said. “It’s time they leave the guy alone.” A spokeswoman for the U.S. Attorney’s Office in San Francisco declined to comment on any aspect of the investigation.
