Roger Clemens is going back in court.
The seven-time Cy Young Award winner will be under oath for the first time since he testified before Congress in 2008 when the attorneys of Clemens’s former personal trainer, Brian McNamee, depose him in connection to McNamee’s defamation case.
Richard Emery, one of McNamee’s lawyers, who participated in a conference call with Clemens’ legal team and U.S. Magistrate Judge Cheryl L. Pollak, told the New York Daily News on Tuesday that it’s “not clear yet” when depositions will begin.
“We’re going to be starting depositions soon,” Emery told the Daily News. “We’re going to be pressing ahead.”
Clemens and his advisers are accused by McNamee of waging a smear campaign against him in the wake of the 2007 Mitchell Report. McNamee testified to congressional investigators that he obtained performance-enhancing drugs for Clemens, who was acquitted on all counts in his 2012 federal perjury and obstruction of Congress trial in Washington.
Both Emery and Clemens’ agent, Randy Hendricks, told the Daily News that there were no discussions of settlement during the conference call with Pollak. Emery said he’s not optimistic a deal could be reached.
The next hearing is scheduled for Aug. 27, but Emery said, “We’ll be doing depositions before then.”