(September 17, 2008)—Grammy-nominated Central Texas singer-songwriter Billy Joe Shaver was indicted Wednesday for aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and unlawfully carrying a handgun by a license holder on licensed premises in connection with an April 2007 shooting outside a local bar.
Shaver, who has a concealed handgun permit, turned himself in to authorities in April 2007 after an arrest warrant was issued.
He was freed after posting $50,000 bond.
The charges stem from a shooting on March 31, 2007 outside Papa Joe’s Saloon in Lorena
After Shaver surrendered, attorney Joseph Turner of Austin said a drunk, aggressive stranger with a knife followed Shaver into the parking lot as the singer was leaving the bar.
The lawyer said Shaver shot the man in self-defense.
But the affidavit submitted for the arrest warrant says a witness told investigators Shaver followed Billy B. Coker out of Papa Joe's Texas Saloon and asked, ``Where do you want it?'' before shooting him in the face.
Another witness who went outside after the gunfire said he heard Shaver say to Coker, ``Tell me you are sorry,'' and ``Nobody tells me to shut up.''
Coker told police that the men had been talking and discovered Shaver's wife is the widow of Coker's cousin.
The 50-year-old victim was talking and alert afterward and was hospitalized.
Shaver rose to country music fame in the 1970s.
He wrote ``Georgia on a Fast Train'' and ``I'm Just an Old Chunk of Coal (But I'm Gonna Be a Diamond Someday)'' and has recorded more than 20 albums.
He was nominated for a Grammy Award this year in the best Southern, country or bluegrass gospel album category, but lost out to Ricky Skaggs and The Whites, whose “Salt of the Earth” won the honors.
