Clemens Strikes Out in Bid to Revive Defamation Suit

McNamee attorney hopes to see former Yankee in NYC courtroom

Updated 4:00 PM EST, Wed, Jul 1, 2009

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A federal judge struck down Roger Clemens' bid to revive some of his defamation claims against Brian McNamee, clearing the way for the former trainer to file his own suit against the seven-time Cy Young Award winner.

U.S. District Court Judge Keith Ellison in Houston today reaffirmed his earlier ruling against Clemens.

If Clemens "believes that the federal investigators or the Mitchell Commission overstepped the bounds of the law, he is free to bring suit against those enemies, subject to possible immunity," the judge said.

"This is the final nail in Clemens' Texas coffin," said Richard Emery, a McNamee attorney. He said McNamee intends to sue Clemens for defamation.

"We want Clemens to testify in New York against his former Yankee fans and see what they think of him," Emery said Wednesday.

Clemens' attorney, Rusty Hardin, did not return a call for comment.

McNamee has told federal agents, baseball investigator George Mitchell and a House committee that he injected Clemens more than a dozen times with steroids and human growth hormone from 1998-2001. Clemens has denied using performance-enhancing drugs.

The judge in February dismissed most of Clemens' defamation lawsuit, saying statements made in the Mitchell report on doping in baseball are protected. McNamee's attorneys said the lawsuit had no merit because McNamee was compelled to cooperate by federal investigators.

Ellison agreed, though he left in McNamee's statements to Andy Pettitte, Clemens' former New York Yankees teammate. McNamee told Pettitte that Clemens had used HGH and steroids, and Pettitte testified about the conversation to Congress.

Clemens is under investigation by a federal grand jury in Washington that is trying to determine whether he lied when he told a congressional committee that he had not used illegal performance-enhancing drugs. Clemens said he had not been summoned to testify before the grand jury.