Randy Travis pleads not guilty to assault in Texas

Country singer Randy Travis pleaded not guilty on Friday (Dec. 21) in a Plano, Texas, court to a simple assault charge for allegedly attacking a man in a church parking lot in August.

Travis was not arrested for the incident, during which Plano police "determined there had been an argument between an estranged husband and wife." The singer allegedly intervened, which is when he allegedly assaulted the man. The woman, according to the Dallas Morning News, is Travis' girlfriend.

His attorney, Larry Friedman, tells the Morning News on Friday that there were actually two men involved in the incident, and they were harassing the woman and her 17-year-old daughter.  

"Randy was a Good Samaritan," Friedman says. "He was the Good Samaritan. He intervened in an assault by two men who were beating two women, one of whom was a minor. When he intervened, one of those two attackers attacked Randy, and he defended himself. When the police arrived, one attacker was on top of Randy, and the police pulled him off Randy. But Randy was trying to protect the two women from further harm."

And despite an arrest earlier the same month for driving while intoxicated and a similar incident in February, police say there are no indications Travis had been drinking prior to the alleged assault.

"Randy is no longer drinking any alcohol," Friedman says. "He's committed to a new fitness regimen that includes a strict three-hour workout every day and a new high-protein diet."

His trial has been set for March 11.