SAN FRANCISCO – The Barry Bonds trial may come to a close sooner than expected.  Prosecutors indicated today they don't plan to call to the stand any more baseball players, after Jason and Jeremy Giambi testified Tuesday and Randy Velarde on Wednesday. Former San Francisco Giants outfielder and Bonds teammate Marvin Benard testified on both days.  Bonds has been charged with four counts of perjury and a count of obstruction of justice based on his testimony to a 2003 federal grand jury that he had never knowingly used steroids.  Court documents say the trial, which began March 21, is expected to last 3-4 weeks. Both parties have agreed to an abbreviated session Thursday at the request of presiding U.S. District Court Judge Susan Illston, who has an afternoon commitment.  The government's decision to trim its witness list came as a surprise in that former Giants catcher Bobby Estalella was expected to say Bonds had admitted his use of performance-enhancing drugs to him when they were Giants teammates in 2000 and 2001.  Two other former Bonds teammates, catcher Benito Santiago and outfielder Armando Rios, are also on the witness list.  Prosecutors said their remaining witnesses are Arthur Ting, Bonds' former orthopedic surgeon, as well as personal assistant Kathy Hoskins and sports-doping expert Don Catlin.  The trial could advance to closing arguments soon after that, depending on who the defense calls.  Most of Wednesday's proceedings were dedicated to questioning workers at UCLA's drug lab, which tested urine samples – including one from Bonds – seized by the government in a 2004 raid of Quest Diagnostics.  Prosecutors claim Bonds' sample, part of MLB's survey testing in 2003, came out positive for the designer steroid THG, testosterone and clomiphene, a women's fertility drug often used in recovery at the end of a steroid cycle.  The defense has moved to exclude the results of that test, but Illston has allowed it. Last year, an appeals court ruled the tests that were not related to the case involving the Bay Area Laboratory Cooperative (BALCO) had been seized illegally. Bonds' test, however, was among the BALCO ones.  See photos of: Barry Bonds  To report corrections and clarifications, contact Standards Editor  . For publication consideration in the newspaper, send comments to  . Include name, phone number, city and state for verification. To view our corrections, go to
Quick conclusion for Barry Bonds trial? Witness list trimmed down - Daily Pitch: MLB News, Standings, Schedules & More - USATODAY.com