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NewsBank, inc. - Austin American Statesman - 1989 - Article with Citation
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   Headline:    Austinite acquitted in musician's death 
                Shooting of Blaze Foley called self-defense

   Date:    September 29, 1989         Section:  CITY/STATE
   Page:    B1                         Edition:  FINAL
   Word Count: 734

   Author:      Berta Delgado

 Text:
 Jurors deliberated just over two hours Thursday before acquitting
 a 39-year-old man who said he acted in self-defense in the shooting
 death of Austin musician Blaze Foley.
 
     The 10-woman, two-man jury reached the unanimous verdict shortly
 before 4:30 p.m. in the murder trial of Carey January, which began
 Monday in state District Judge Jon Wisser's court.
     "I'm glad he's free," said one of January's attorneys, Jim
 Sawyer. "I don't think it was a first-degree murder. It typifies
 how 12 people, if they follow this oath, can arrive at a verdict that
 they'd otherwise not be expected to reach.
     "I credit them, not the lawyers, on the verdict," said Sawyer,
 whose closing arguments prompted a handful of Foley's friends to
 leave the courtroom in frustration.
     As January was escorted to the jail before being released, he
 said he was relieved with the verdict and was ready to start his life
 over.
     "I wasn't 100 percent sure what they (the jurors) were going to
 do," January said. "I'm glad it's over."
     January, who lived at the home of his father, Concho January, at
 706 W. Mary St., had been involved in several scuffles with Foley,
 according to testimony this week.
     Foley, a friend of Concho January's, often visited the
 66-year-old man at his house, according to testimony. Foley was
 visiting Concho January when he was shot and killed.
     Foley, whose real name was Michael David Fuller, was shot in the
 left side of the chest with a .22-caliber rifle about 5:30 a.m. on
 Feb. 1.
     "Austin lost a talented singer-songwriter," said Assistant
 District Attorney Kent Anschutz, lead prosecutor in the case. "We're
 very disappointed in the jury's verdict."
     Anschutz and co-prosecutor Marianne Powers argued in their
 closing arguments Thursday that January, who has been convicted on
 drug charges three times since 1969, planned the murder.
     "There wasn't even verbal provocation in this case, and
 self-defense must be more than verbal provocation," Powers said.
 "There was no deadly force on the part of this victim."
     The state's key witness, Concho January, testified earlier this
 week that he was lying on his bed and Foley was sitting in a chair
 next to him when his son entered the room and shot Foley. The elder
 January said Foley was showing him some of his drawings.
     Anschutz said Carey January was lying when he testified that
 Foley awoke him the morning of the shooting and swung at him with a
 broom. January had testified that he feared for his life and grabbed
 the loaded rifle from a closet. He said he fired a warning shot at
 the floor, and then shot Foley when he looked as if he were going to
 grab the rifle from January.
     "What he's telling you is a pack of untruths," said Anschutz.
 "It is all a creation. It is a fantasy he has spun to find a way
 out."
     Anschutz said testimony that neighbors heard only one shot, that
 police and investigators found no evidence of a struggle in the house
 nor any sign of a bullet hole in the floor, proved the "untruths."
     Defense attorneys Pat Ganne and Sawyer said police did not look
 hard enough for sign of a warning shot, and questioned the
 credibility of Concho January, calling him "an old fool" and "the
 world's most reliable drunk."
     According to testimony, Concho January has been treated at a San
 Antonio veteran's hospital for chemical dependency and spends much of
 his time drinking.
     Ganne said Concho January was angry when his son, who was raised
 by grandparents, tried to interfere with his relationship with Foley.
     Foley provoked Carey January by repeatedly kicking him out of the
 house, striking him with an ax handle on one occasion, and striking
 him with the broom, said Ganne, who startled the jury by banging the
 broom and an ax handle admitted into evidence against Judge Wisser's
 bench.
     Either of the two could have been dangerous weapons in the hands
 of Foley, who stood 6-foot-2 and weighed nearly 300 pounds, Ganne
 said. He said Foley's demeanor reminded him of the song that should
 have read, "You don't tug on Superman's cape, you don't spit into the
 wind, you don't pull the mask off the old Lone Ranger, and you don't
 threaten Blaze Foley."
 

 Graphic:   PHOTO

 Caption:   Carey January

 Copyright:   (Copyright 1989)