Randy Travis reckons he’s not guilty of assaulting a man in a church parking lot back in August and he’s requested a jury trial. On Friday (December 21, 2012), country singer Travis appeared in a Plano Texas courtroom, LA Times reports, to answer charges of assault. The incident occurred at the end of summer, when Randy allegedly got himself embroiled in an argument with his girlfriend and her estranged husband.

Travis’ attorney, Larry Friedman, insists that Travis was merely acting as a good Samaritan, when two men started harassing his girlfriend, and her 17 year-old daughter. According to Friedman’s version of events, one of the men attacked Travis before the police arrived and the singer had merely been defending himself. However, Travis’s public behaviour record has been far from clean, of late. In February, he was arrested on suspicion of public intoxication and he also got himself arrested in the summer for DUI. Oh and he was also charged with retaliation / obstruction, after he allegedly threatened an officer during the arrest process.

A court date has been set for March 11 and Friedman’s doing his best to clean up Randy Travis’ image in the meantime, insisting that he’s off the strong stuff, for a start. “Randy is no longer drinking any alcohol,” Friedman has told Dallas Morning News. “He’s committed to a new fitness regime that includes a strict three-hour workout every day and a new high-protein diet.” We’re not sure that anyone ever got off an assault charge by promising to eat more protein, but we’ll watch to see how this one pans out.