Nearly 11 years after Barry Bonds testified before a grand jury investigating the illegal distribution of performance-enhancing drugs, a group of judges will hear arguments on whether baseball’s career home-run leader should have his obstruction of justice conviction thrown out.

The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals will convene an 11-judge panel Thursday in San Francisco to decide whether Bonds’ rambling response to a question about injectable substances was “corruptly” an attempt to “obstruct, influence or impede the grand jury proceeding ... by knowingly giving material testimony that was intentionally evasive, false or misleading.”

“If I was Bonds’ lawyers, at this moment I would be really feeling pretty good that they’ve got a real shot of reversing the conviction,” said William B. Gould IV, a professor at Stanford Law School.

Bonds was indicted in 2007, and four years later a jury deadlocked on three counts charging him with making false statements when he denied receiving steroids and HGH from trainer Greg Anderson.