It's appears Barry Bonds' long-running criminal case may not go to trial until next year.

The legal team for Major League Baseball's home run king, the government lawyers prosecuting him and the judge overseeing the 3-year-old case were unable to set a definitive trial date Friday. They agreed to reconvene on Aug. 6 to try again.

Bonds has pleaded not guilty to lying to a federal grand jury in 2003 when he denied knowingly taking performance-enhancing drugs.

On Friday, U.S. District Judge Susan Illston told the lawyers her courtroom only was available for trial in September this year. But Bonds' lawyers ruled out September, making an early 2011 trial likely instead.