Bonds files appeal to erase conviction

Barry Bonds is asking a federal appeals court to toss out his felony obstruction conviction. Bonds' lawyers filed a 70-page legal brief on Thursday with the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals arguing his conviction was based on a rambling and irrelevant, but truthful, answer to a grand jury question about whether his trainer ever provided him with an injectable substance. Bonds replied that he was a ''celebrity child'' rather than answering the question directly. A jury decided after a roughly three-week trial last year that the answer represented an obstruction of justice. The jury deadlocked on three other perjury charges alleging he lied to a grand jury when he denied knowing taking performance-enhancing drugs. Federal prosecutors are expected to file their opposition later this month.