Reading the ESPN article, here's the explanation of what got Bonds convicted of obstruction of justice:
[Question asked to Bonds] "Did Greg ever give you anything that required a syringe to inject yourself with?" Bonds was asked.
His [Bond's] answer meandered, talking about his friendship with Anderson. The underlined part in the indictment, the crime he was convicted of, was this response: "That's what keeps our friendship. You know, I am sorry, but that -- you know, that -- I was a celebrity child, not just in baseball by my own instincts. I became a celebrity child with a famous father. I just don't get into other people's business because of my father's situation, you see."
The jury instruction said that to be convicted, Bonds must be found to have "obstructed, influenced or impeded, or endeavored to obstruct, influence, or impede" the grand jury "by knowingly giving material testimony that was intentionally evasive, false or misleading."
(I underlined certain words for emphasis)
I'm not an attorney nor a legal scholar but the answer is obviously not relevant to the question - which in my opinion was vague to begin with. Who ever asked the question should have objected to Bonds' answer as "non-responsive" and asked the question again and pressed Bonds until he got a definitive "yes" or "no" from Bonds. But the key thing the defense should have made issue with (and perhaps they did) was Bonds' answer "knowingly and intentionally evasive"? That would be rather hard to prove beyond a reasonable doubt in my opinion. Ironically, if Bonds would have answered the question definitively, he would have probably been acquitted on all counts since they had no proof of him using steroids.
Don't get me wrong here. I loathe perjury, obstruction of justice, and the actions of people who break the law by using prescribed drugs in an illegal manner and Bonds probably should have gotten worse and his saving grace was having a buddy willing to fall on his own sword for Bonds. But on the other hand, there should have been at least another 200 ball players who should have been grilled in court over the same issues and got off scott-free.
Entire ESPN article:
http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=6347014