Andy Pettitte Does A Frankie Five Angels At The Roger Clemens Trial [UPDATE]

Andy Pettitte was supposed to be the prosecution's star witness at the perjury trial of Roger Clemens. According to the Los Angeles Times, Pettitte was the only person expected to say under oath that Clemens had used human growth hormone other than Clemens's former trainer, Brian McNamee. But when Pettitte showed up for today's hearing, he noticed the Clemens camp had brought in Pettitte's brother, who speaks no English, all the way from Sicily.

No, wait. That's from a scene in The Godfather, Part II. But except the part about the brother, Pettitte's performance could have come straight from the movie script. The Los Angeles Times reported that it left the prosecution's case in "disarray":

Is it possible, asked Clemens lawyer Mike Attanasio, that Pettitte misunderstood the critical conversation?

"I could have," was Pettitte's reply.

Attanasio then asked Pettitte if he only had 50-50 confidence in his memory.

"That's fair," he said.

Clemens has long maintained that Pettitte must have misremembered the conversation.

For the record, Pettitte did not testify that he had been in the olive oil business with Clemens. Just that it was a long time ago.

Update (6:20 p.m.): Craig Calcaterra over HardballTalk has noted that Pettitte also told Congress in 2008 he may have misunderstood what Clemens told him, which makes Pettitte's testimony today consistent with what he has previously said under oath. If the case is indeed in "disarray," it appears to be because the prosecution called Pettitte to the stand in the first place.

Andy Pettitte says he may have misunderstood Clemens conversation [Los Angeles Times] h/t to Megan G.