Clemens to appeal McNamee case

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Roger Clemens said Brian McNamee's statements about his steroid use were "untrue and defamatory." Simon Bruty/SI

HOUSTON (AP) -- Roger Clemens has filed an appeal of his dismissed defamation suit against Brian McNamee.

Clemens filed a notice Friday with the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to review the decisions of U.S. District Judge Keith P. Ellison, who threw out most of Clemens' case in February and dismissed the remainder of the suit Aug. 28.

The seven-time Cy Young Award winner sued his former personal trainer in Texas state court in January 2008, a month after McNamee's accusations against the pitcher were published in the Mitchell Report. The suit was moved a month later to federal court in Houston.

McNamee claimed in the Mitchell Report that he injected Clemens with steroids and human growth hormone at least 16 times in 1998, 2000 and 2001. He also sued Clemens for defamation on July 31 in federal court in Brooklyn, N.Y.

Clemens said McNamee's statements, which the trainer also repeated to Sports Illustrated's Web site, were "untrue and defamatory."

Clemens and McNamee repeated their conflicting claims last year to a congressional committee, which then asked the Justice Department to launch a probe into whether the pitcher lied. A federal grand jury in Washington has been investigating Clemens.

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