More on Bonds's plate

SAN FRANCISCO -- A federal grand jury is investigating whether Barry Bonds committed perjury when he testified in 2003 that he never used steroids, according to media reports last night.

The panel has been hearing evidence for more than a month about whether the San Francisco Giants slugger lied to a different grand jury that was investigating the BALCO scandal, according to reports on CNN and the San Francisco Chronicle's website.

Luke Macaulay, spokesman for the US Attorney's Office in San Francisco, told The Associated Press that he could neither confirm nor deny the reports. The story was first broadcast on CNN, which cited multiple sources it did not identify.

Bonds was granted immunity when he testified to the BALCO grand jury in December 2003 as long he told the truth. According to excerpts of the testimony previously reported by the Chronicle, Bonds testified that he used a clear substance and a cream given to him by a trainer who later pleaded guilty in a steroid-distribution ring, but said he didn't know they were steroids.

Bonds has always denied using steroids. Harry Stern, an attorney in the firm representing Bonds, told the AP that Bonds told the truth when he testified to the grand jury and said his firm had no knowledge of this reported grand jury investigation.

Baseball spokesman Rich Levin said he is aware of the reports, ''but it's just not appropriate for us to comment at this time."

The Chronicle also reported that Dr. Arthur Ting, Bonds's personal surgeon, has been subpoenaed to testify before the grand jury investigating possible perjury charges.

Ting, who treated Bonds for a knee injury that kept him out for most of the 2005 season, was called to appear before the panel at the US District courthouse in San Francisco later this month, the Chronicle reported, citing two people familiar with the investigation.

The sources asked the newspaper not to identify them because of the sensitivity of the grand jury probe.

Phone messages left by the AP for Ting and his attorney were not immediately returned last night.

According to ''Game of Shadows," a book released last month that detailed Bonds's longtime alleged drug regimen, Ting accompanied Bonds to BALCO headquarters in Burlingame in 2003 to draw blood from the slugger.

The publication of the book prompted Major League Baseball commissioner Bud Selig to launch an investigation into past steroid use in baseball.

Bonds is third on baseball's all-time home run list with 708; he is seven homers shy of passing Babe Ruth and has yet to go deep this season.