WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A DNA expert in the perjury trial of Roger Clemens testified he matched the former pitching ace’s genetic profile to articles of medical waste kept by the trainer who says he injected Clemens with performance-enhancing drugs.

Prosecution witness Alan Keel, who works for Forensic Science Associates in California, said he found blood on a cotton ball and deposits he believed to be pus on another that matched the genetic profile of Clemens. He also said he found a handful of cells on a needle, which he attributed to Clemens.

“This genetic profile is compatible with Mr. Clemens,” he said, referring to DNA found on the needle.

Keel said he was able to extract enough DNA from the waste, particularly the cotton balls, to establish a genetic profile matching that of Clemens.

“I would expect this profile to be unique to only one person that has ever lived on the planet,” Keel said.

His testimony was an important piece of the government’s case that the retired pitching star lied to a congressional panel when he denied using performance-enhancing drugs.

The crux of the government’s argument has been a batch of medical waste turned in to authorities in 2008 by Brian McNamee, Clemens’ former strength and conditioning trainer, who says he personally injected Clemens with the drugs.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Prosecutors were expected to present evidence on Friday of Roger Clemens’ DNA on a needle and other items allegedly used to inject the former baseball great with steroids and human growth hormone in a crucial and final phase of their argument.

Alan Keel, a DNA expert for Forensic Science Associates in California, was set to take the stand in U.S. District Court in Washington after testifying on Thursday that he was asked to analyze items related to the Clemens trial.

If Keel makes a DNA connection between Clemens and items already tested for steroids, the testimony could be critical for the government, which is charging that the former pitching ace lied under oath to a congressional panel in 2008 when he denied using performance-enhancing drugs.

Clemens, 49, is being tried for a second time on federal charges of lying in 2008 to the U.S. House of Representatives’ Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, which was investigating drug use in Major League Baseball. His first trial ended last year in a mistrial.

The crux of the government’s argument has been a batch of medical waste turned in to authorities in 2008 by Brian McNamee, Clemens’ former strength and conditioning trainer. McNamee said the waste came from an alleged injection of anabolic steroids he gave to Clemens in August 2001.

On Thursday two forensic analysts said they had found steroids on the items, some of which included needles, gauze, and a broken steroid vial that had been stuffed into a Miller Lite beer can.

Clemens’ attorneys have already indicated they will argue that there is no way to tell how steroids got onto items connected to the pitcher.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Former Major League Baseball player David Segui testified on Thursday in the perjury trial of Roger Clemens that the pitching ace’s personal trainer told him he had saved needles that he claims he used to inject Clemens with performance-enhancing drugs.

Segui told the court that trainer Brian McNamee said he had saved needles “as evidence” to placate his wife, who was concerned about McNamee’s relationship with the pitcher. McNamee, in separate testimony, has said he kept needles used to inject Clemens with anabolic steroids in 2001 to calm his wife by stashing evidence of the pitcher’s alleged drug use.

“He mentioned that the relationship between Brian and Roger had put stress on (his) married life,” the former first baseman said in U.S. District Court in Washington, describing a phone conversation with McNamee in 2001.

“He said she had raised the idea of keeping evidence … he mentioned that he kept darts (needles) to get his wife off his back,” said Segui, who has admitted he used steroids obtained from Kirk Radomski, a convicted steroids dealer who also supplied McNamee.

Radomski testified earlier in the trial that he mailed human growth hormone to Clemens’ home.

McNamee testified last week that he had injected Clemens with steroids and human growth hormones from 1998 to 2001 and held onto used needles and other waste to allay his wife’s concerns.

Anthony Corso, a friend and client of McNamee in New York, can also be called by the government to testify, Judge Reggie Walton ruled. A defense filing says McNamee allegedly told Corso that Clemens used human growth hormones “regularly” and that McNamee had saved evidence from 2001.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Former Major League Baseball player David Segui can be called to testify in the perjury trial of ex-pitching ace Roger Clemens, the judge in the case ruled on Thursday.

According to prosecutors he has been reluctant to travel to Washington for the trial without knowing he will definitely testify.

Federal prosecutors had filed a motion to bring Segui as a witness in order to question him about a conversation between Segui and Clemens’ former personal trainer Brian McNamee, who has said he injected Clemens with steroids and human growth hormone.

McNamee allegedly told Segui about having saved needles used to inject players with steroids or human growth hormone.

Anthony Corso will also be allowed to be called by the government, U.S. District Judge Reggie Walton ruled. Corso was one of McNamee’s clients in New York and could testify that McNamee told Corso that Clemens had used human growth hormone and that McNamee had saved evidence from 2001.

Both testimonies would bolster the claims of McNamee, the core of the government’s case against the seven-time CY Young Award winner.

Clemens, 49, is being tried for a second time on federal charges of lying in 2008 to the U.S. House of Representatives’ Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, which was investigating drug use in Major League Baseball. His first trial ended in a mistrial last year.

WASHINGTON, May 23 (Reuters) – A Chinese national was charged with illegally exporting to China U.S.-made sensors used to produce weapons-grade uraniam, the U.S. Department of Justice said on Wednesday.

Qiang Hu, 47, a sales manager for a Chinese subsidiary of MKS Instruments, was arrested at his hotel in North Andover, Massachusetts and charged with conspiracy to violate U.S. export laws. He allegedly allowed thousands of pressure measuring sensors, known as pressure transducers, to be exported from the United States to unauthorized users in China, the department said.

“Pressure transducers are export controlled because they are used in gas centrifuges to enrich uranium and produce weapons-grade uranium,” the Department of Justice said in a statement.

Hu was identified as the sales manager at MKS Instruments Shanghai Ltd, the Shanghai branch of MKS Instruments Inc. located in Andover, Massachusetts, which supplies manufacturing equipment.

Hu is accused of co-conspiring with others since 2007 to export pressure transducers from the United States to unauthorized end-users either by using export licenses issued to MKS customers and or through export licenses obtained in the name of a front company.

MKS Instruments said it had been informed by the U.S. Attorney’s office in Boston that an employee from its Shanghai subsidiary had been arrested and that it was cooperating with U.S. authorities.

The Department of Justice said in its statement that MKS is not a target of the government’s investigation.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Roger Clemens had a close relationship with his ex-strength and conditioning coach who has said he injected the former pitching ace with performance-enhancing drugs, a retired New York Yankees trainer testified in Clemens’ perjury trial on Wednesday.

Prosecutors were using the testimony by Eugene Monahan to try to establish a close relationship between Brian McNamee, the government’s star witness, who has said he injected Clemens with anabolic steroids and human growth hormone from 1998 to 2001.

“They were associates and they were close,” Monahan said, describing Clemens’ and McNamee’s relationship. McNamee worked with Clemens when he pitched for the Toronto Blue Jays and the Yankees.

Prosecutors showed a memo Monahan had written for the Yankees in 2000, where he wrote that Clemens “maintains complete confidence and respect” for McNamee.

The defense has worked to paint McNamee as a liar who has obtained immunity from prosecution in exchange for his testimony.

Clemens is being tried for a second time on federal charges of lying in 2008 to the U.S. House of Representatives’ Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, which was investigating drug use in Major League Baseball. His first trial ended in a mistrial last year.

Clemens, a seven-time Cy Young Award winner as best pitcher, has repeatedly denied taking performance-enhancing drugs or lying to lawmakers, saying that McNamee had injected him with shots of vitamin B12 and the anesthetic lidocaine instead.

By Lily Kuo

(Reuters) – A northern California man was arrested and accused of the kidnapping and murder of a 15-year-old girl who disappeared more than two months ago, police said on Tuesday.

Sierra LaMar, who lived in Morgan Hill, California near the high-tech hub of San Jose, went missing on March 16. Police have said they do not believe she ran away.

“Our investigation has led to the identification of Antolin Garcia-Torres as the person responsible for the kidnap and murder of Sierra LaMar,” Santa Clara County Sheriff Laurie Smith said at a news conference.

LaMar’s body has not been found. Smith said evidence including forensic analysis, the victim’s clothing and cell phone “contributed to our belief that Sierra is a victim of murder.”

Garcia-Torres, 21, was arrested and booked on Monday. Police do not believe Garcia-Torres and LaMar knew each other.

DNA found on LaMar’s belongings was traced to Garcia-Torres, whose DNA was on file because of a 2009 assault for which he had not been prosecuted, Smith said.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A prostitution scandal in Colombia involving Secret Service and military personnel ahead of a presidential visit has spawned a separate investigation of the behavior of drug enforcement agents in Cartagena, officials said on Monday.

A spokesman for the Justice Department’s Office of Inspector General said in a statement that its investigators were probing “allegations about potential misconduct” by Drug Enforcement Administration staff.

The official would not comment on the case or say how many DEA personnel might have been implicated but said it was not directly related to the incident involving prostitutes and Secret Service members last month.

In that case, a dozen Secret Service agents and a dozen military personnel were linked to a raucous party ahead of President Barack Obama’s visit to Cartagena that ultimately led to as many as 21 prostitutes going back to some of their hotel rooms.

The Secret Service separately said on Monday that a 13th employee had self-reported potential misconduct while in Colombia and was placed on administrative leave.

A Secret Service spokesman did not provide further details.

Senator Susan Collins, the senior Republican on the Homeland Security Committee, said in a statement that at least two DEA agents “apparently entertained female foreign national masseuses” in one of the agents’ apartments in Cartagena.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Government prosecutors on Monday will try to salvage the credibility of their key witness in the perjury trial of former Major League Baseball star Roger Clemens when his ex-trainer who said he supplied the pitching ace with drugs takes the stand.

Brian McNamee, the most important witness for federal prosecutors who have charged Clemens with lying to the U.S. Congress about using the performance-enhancing drugs, will be wrapping up more than 20 hours of testimony in U.S. District Court.

In questioning last week, lawyers for the pitching great attacked McNamee’s trustworthiness and hammered him over inconsistencies in his story.

Also on Monday, Judge Reggie Walton was expected to rule on a government motion to allow previously prohibited evidence showing that McNamee supplied drugs to other players – a move that could extend the trial. It is already expected to take until June 8.

McNamee says he injected Clemens with anabolic steroids and human growth hormone from 1998 to 2001, citing as evidence needles, gauze, a broken steroid ampoule and human growth hormone stuffed into a Miller Lite beer can that McNamee said Clemens had given to him in 2002.

Clemens, 49, is being tried for a second time on federal charges of lying in 2008 to the U.S. House of Representatives’ Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, which was investigating drug use in baseball. His first trial ended in a mistrial last year.

On Friday, pressed by Clemens’ lawyer Rusty Hardin, McNamee revealed that not all of the waste – evidence he had turned over to federal authorities – was connected to Clemens and included items used by other players.

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Families of U.S. victims of the 1988 bombing of a PanAm flight over Lockerbie, Scotland, said on Sunday the death of the convicted bomber did not ease their loss and the White House said it would not end the quest for justice.

Abdel Basset al-Megrahi, 60, the Libyan convicted of the bombing that killed 270 people, died at his home in the Libyan capital from complications from prostate cancer, his brother said on Sunday.

“Megrahi’s death concludes an unfortunate chapter following his release from prison in 2009 on medical grounds – a move we strongly opposed,” White House National Security Council spokesman Tommy Vietor said in Chicago, where President Barack Obama was hosting a summit of NATO allies.

Megrahi’s release on humanitarian grounds by Scottish officials infuriated families of the dead, 189 of whom were American, and drew sharp criticism from Washington after Megrahi arrived home in Libya to a hero’s welcome.

“We want to see justice for the victims of the Lockerbie bombing and their families. We will continue working with our new partners in Libya toward a full accounting of (Muammar) Gaddafi’s horrific acts,” Vietor said.

Megrahi was convicted in 2001 of blowing up the plane, which was flying from London to New York, killing all 259 aboard and 11 people in the town of Lockerbie. He was released from a Scottish prison in 2009 because he had cancer and was expected to live only a few months.

“He got the ability to die with his family. My brother didn’t have the ability to have his family floating around him at 31,000 feet when he fell to the ground,” said Bert Ammerman, whose brother Tommy was killed on the plane at the age of 36.