"A federal judge will allow prosecutors to play a tape-recorded 2003 conversation of Barry Bonds' former personal trainer allegedly discussing giving the star ballplayer steroids, over the objections of defense lawyers who hoped to keep it out of his upcoming perjury trial.

In a ruling Tuesday, U.S. District Judge Susan Illston approved the government's use of the tape recording, created by former Bonds business associate Steve Hoskins in the San Francisco Giants locker room. The tape, government documents allege, depicts former Bonds trainer Greg Anderson discussing steroid use and the complexities of injecting Bonds with steroids.

Anderson has refused to testify in the trial, and Bonds' legal team argued that the tape could not be corroborated without his testimony. But Illston will permit the jury to hear the tape and Hoskins' testimony, although there may be portions of the tape that will be excluded from the trial. Bonds' lawyers are expected to attack Hoskins' credibility because he had a falling out with Bonds over money and other issues, and is accused of retaliating against the embattled home run king."