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NewsBank, inc. - Austin American Statesman - 1989 - Article with Citation
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   Headline:    Self-defense claimed in singer's death

   Date:    September 28, 1989         Section:  CITY/STATE
   Page:    B1                         Edition:  FINAL
   Word Count: 705

   Author:      Berta Delgado

 Text:
 A 39-year-old man on trial in the slaying of an Austin musician
 testified in court Wednesday that he shot Blaze Foley because he
 feared for his life.
 
     Carey January, of 705 W. Mary St. is charged with murder in the
 Feb. 1 shooting death of Foley, a singer and songwriter. Prosecutors
 are expected to rebut defense testimony when the trial continues at
 8:30 a.m. today in state District Judge Jon Wisser's court.
     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. Foley
 was at the home of January's father, where January had been living
 for four years, when Foley was shot and killed.
     According to testimony, both Foley and January had accused each
 other of taking advantage of January's father, Concho January, 66.
     Concho January, who his son said is a alcoholic, supports himself
 through Social Security and veterans' benefits, he said. January was
 hired by a state agency to clean, cook and care for his father,
 according to testimony.
     January said that Foley appeared to want to take over the job.
     January said he was often harassed by Foley when the singer went
 to the house to visit Concho January. About six months before the
 shooting incident, January said, Foley had struck him in the back
 with an ax handle and had told him to leave the house.
     The afternoon before the shooting, January said, his father and
 Foley were drinking at the house and Foley began harassing him again.
 January said he left the house and returned home about midnight,
 after Foley had gone.
     Several hours later, January said, he awoke when Foley returned.
 "He said, `You didn't think I was coming back, did you?' " January
 testified. "Then he said, `I thought I told you to leave.' "
     January said Foley grabbed a broom, swung it and hit him with it.
     That was when January went for a loaded rifle that was kept in a
 hall closet, fired a warning shot, and then shot Foley, he said.
     "He was coming at me," January said. "I could see fire in his
 eyes . . . I thought he was going to take the gun away and attack
 me. . . . I had seen that look before when he hit me with the ax
 handle."
     Concho January told jurors a different story while testifying
 Tuesday. The elder January said he didn't know why his son had shot
 Foley. Concho January said that Foley was showing him some drawings
 in his bedroom when his son entered the room and shot Foley, who was
 sitting in a chair next to the bed.
     Assistant District Attorneys Kent Anschutz and Marianne Powers
 questioned the younger January's version of the incident during
 cross-examination, saying he initially had told police different
 stories.
     At the time of the shooting, January said he was panic-stricken
 and lied to officers, telling them that Foley had come over and was
 beating his father.
     Anschutz also questioned an oral version of the story that
 January was said to have told to homicide detective Sgt. Hector
 Polanco.
     "Didn't you tell Sgt. Polanco that your father told you to kill
 Blaze Foley because he was stealing his government checks and
 threatening him with bodily injury?" asked Anschutz.
     Anschutz said January had told Polanco that he was trying to take
 the gun from his father when it fired and struck Foley.
     January said he did not recall making those statements.
     Anschutz said a typed report taken by Polanco also differed from
 the version January offered in court. January said Polanco must have
 taken the statements "out of context" while January was dictating
 what happened.
      Anschutz also said January didn't bother to correct
 discrepancies in the typed report. But defense attorneys Pat Ganne
 and Jim Sawyer said January didn't have to because he never signed
 the report.
     Polanco testified that January decided not to sign the report
 after it was finished because "he didn't want to say anything that
 would hurt him."
 

 Graphic:   PHOTO

 Caption:   Murder defendant Carey January, who testified in his own
            defense Wednesday, is escorted back to jail by Sheriff's
            Deputy Glenn Conway.
            Tom Lankes

 Copyright:   (Copyright 1989)