Theatrical Rusty Hardin takes Clemens’s case

Baseball’s Roger Clemens has never been one to back down and go easy on batters.

So it’s no surprise that he has launched a very public campaign to clear his name of allegations leveled against him in the Mitchell report on the use of steroids and other performance-enhancing drugs in baseball.

And it’s also not surprising that Rusty Hardin, a Houston-based criminal defense lawyer, is representing Clemens. (Story continues below interactive map.)

“(Hardin) remains the name that should be on the speed-dial of every athlete or deep-pocketed Houstonian who might ever conceivably get into trouble,” wrote the Houston Press in naming Hardin Houston’s best criminal defense lawyer of 2005.

The honor didn’t come easily, as Houston has long had a reputation for effective and flamboyant criminal defense lawyers.

However, selecting Hardin was a no-brainer, the Press wrote, “like naming Lance Armstrong as Best Bicyclist from Texas.”

Hardin, 66, a Vietnam War veteran, and a graduate of Southern Methodist University Law School, first made a name for himself working as a prosecutor in Houston for the Harris County District Attorney’s office.

During his 15 years there, he almost always won. By his own account, he sent 15 men to death row, according to The New York Times.

The key to his victories was his preparation and his folksy ability to win over juries. “His closing arguments were pure theater,” wrote Pamela Colloff in a 2000 Texas Monthly profile.

Summing things up for the jury at the end of one trial, Hardin reenacted the murder by pretending to pump shotgun shells into a truck. In another summation, he swung a pickax — the murder weapon — into a phone book.

Hardin left the D.A.’s office in 1990 and went into private practice. His resume shows a wide variety of clients. He represented the accounting firm of Arthur Anderson LLP in an Enron-related case. His firm, Rusty Hardin & Associates, P.C., has also handled cases for Rice University, ExxonMobil and Dow Jones & Co.

Hardin successfully represented the estate of J. Howard Marshall II against claims by Marshall’s wife, Anna Nicole Smith, a former Playboy centerfold.

He has also has fared well defending sports stars, so much so that his firm’s website has a section headed “Professional Athletes.”

Former basketball star Calvin Murphy turned to Hardin when he was charged with sexual assault of a child. A jury acquitted Murphy after a five-week trial.

Hardin also got an acquittal after NFL quarterback Warren Moon was charged with assaulting his wife. Hardin represented basketball coach Rudy Tomjanovich and basketball player Steve Francis in separate driving-while-intoxicated cases. Juries acquitted both men.

Clemens, one of the biggest names in baseball and the winner of 354 games over a 24-year Major League career, hasn’t been charged with any crimes.

But former Sen. George J. Mitchell, D-Maine, named Clemens in a report about the use of performance-enhancing drugs in baseball.

Allegedly, Clemens used steroids while playing for the Toronto Blue Jays in 1998 and while a New York Yankee in the early 2000s. The report also accuses Clemens of using human growth hormone.

Brian McNamee, a former trainer with the Blue Jays and strength coach with the Yankees, is the source of these allegations.

Hardin says that McNamee is lying in exchange for easy treatment by federal authorities. “(He) only came up with names after being threatened with possible prison time,” Hardin said at a press conference earlier this month.

The Times reported Saturday that McNamee has retained Richard D. Emery, a New York City lawyer with experience in libel and defamation cases. Emery took aim at a 60 Minutes interview by Mike Wallace with Clemens that’s scheduled to air Jan. 6.

The lawyer said that if Clemens uses the interview to accuse McNamee of lying, the baseball player could expect a defamation lawsuit.

Hardin responded by saying, “My advice to Brian and his lawyers would be to stay tuned because (Clemens) told Mike Wallace the truth.”

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George Mitchell: connected or conflicted?
Barry Bonds hires powerful defense team
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