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MIAMI - A steroid expert for the prosecution testified Monday that he didn't know the illegal steroid former Devil Rays slugger Jose Canseco is accused of using in violation of probation existed in a longer-lasting form.
Canseco, the 1988 AL MVP with the A's, has been on probation since November after pleading guilty to felony aggravated battery in connection with a scuffle with two tourists at a Miami Beach nightclub in 2001. He has been in jail since June 3, when probation officials said he tested positive for the muscle-building drug.
The defense concedes steroid abuse but insists there is no reliable way to know when Canseco used the steroids that showed up in his urine.
Dr. James Shipe, a University of Virginia forensic toxicologist called by prosecutors, testified that the steroid Stanazolol, sold under the name Winstrol, would last eight weeks at most in the human body.
On cross-examination he said his opinion would change if Stanazolol came in a longer-lasting form known as "depot." Canseco attorney Jayne Weintraub then offered a blowup illustration of Winstrol Depot.
Prosecutor Jonathan Granoff complained to the judge that he was ambushed by Canseco's attorneys.
"We've just destroyed their only expert witness," Weintraub said outside court.