New York ? One of the great things about the American justice system is you’re presumed innocent until proven guilty. That premise certainly worked to the benefit of O.J. Simpson, who can only hope that his next set of jurors proves as open minded as the first.

For Barry Bonds, it means he will get his day in court, where he can flash his charming smile and hope he never stiffed any of the jurors for an autograph. They can judge the evidence as presented, then decide whether Bonds lied when he told a federal grand jury he never knowingly took steroids.

I don’t need to do that. Because one of the great things about being a columnist is I don’t need to worry much about judicial protocol or any other legal gobbledygook. Actually, most of the time I start with a presumption of guilty and then wait for someone to prove me wrong.

If it looks like a duck, walks like a duck, and quacks like a duck, I figure it just might be a duck. And Barry Bonds is one big duck.

The oversized head and giant-sized home runs weren’t a coincidence. Neither were the home runs that came by bunches at an age when, without fail, players historically begin failing. But you know all of that.

We’ve all known, just as we know the inflated numbers posted by a couple other sluggers in recent times were inflated for all the wrong reasons. Mark McGwire is out of baseball now and has a fuzzy memory of the past. Sammy Sosa says he never did anything worse than swing a corked bat.

They’re lucky. They never had to go before a grand jury and answer the kinds of questions Bonds was asked.

Lie to reporters all you want. No big deal and, besides, they’re used to it. Lie to a grand jury and the next ball you play might be in the prison yard. Read the indictment and the thinly veiled arrogance of a superstar who never had to answer to anyone about anything is striking. Bonds offers one-word answers, pretends not to know anything about steroids and, when things get tough, tells his interrogator that he couldn’t remember much because his dad was dying of cancer at the time.

McGwire and Sosa were let off easy. Contrast that to Bonds, who may soon be getting measured for an extra-large prison uniform. Remember Martha Stewart spent five months in jail for the same crime.

Personally, I couldn’t care less if Bonds goes to prison or not. Seeing Bonds share a 10-by-8 cell with a prison buddy would merely be a bonus. I’m more interested in making his records go away, and a conviction would give even baseball’s commissioner the perfect opportunity to make that happen.

Let’s toss out the career home run record Bonds broke this summer. Restore Hank Aaron to his rightful place on top with 755.

The season record of 73? Trash it, and while you’re at it throw out the 70 McGwire hit in 1998 and the 65 he hit the following year.

Sorry Sammy, but your 66 in 1998 and 63 the next year get shredded, too. Both are too suspicious. No, Roger Maris is the single season home run king, and he will be until someone who takes regular drug tests hits more than 61.