| Author |
Topic: This is really kind of sad. |
Steve Stallings
From:
Houston/Cypress, Texas
|
Posted 5 Apr 2007 10:58 am |
|
Taken from the Bryan-College Station Eagle 4/4/07
| Quote: |
Supernaw trial put on hold for psych check
Supernaw trial put on hold
By CRAIG KAPITAN
Eagle Staff Writer
A misdemeanor evading-arrest trial for Doug Supernaw was derailed Tuesday after a Brazos County judge ordered the country music singer to undergo a psychiatric evaluation.
County Court at Law No. 2 Judge Jim Locke sent members of the jury pool home after Supernaw made a series of statements during pre-trial hearings - including assertions that he was once held in a terrorist detention center in France and that he might be the secret love child of Marilyn Monroe and John F. Kennedy.
Supernaw, who penned the country hits Reno and I Don't Call Him Daddy in the mid-1990s, also said he is the subject of a police conspiracy to ruin his recording contract and his professional baseball career.
The Bellville-based singer was arrested in Bryan in 2004, after spending an evening as a spectator at the Northgate Music Festival.
An off-duty officer confronted him as he was walking down Wellborn Road singing loudly, Supernaw said in a 2005 interview with The Eagle, describing the officer as an "overzealous rookie" who emerged from his apartment in his pajamas. Supernaw tried to leave, he said, because he wasn't sure the man was really an officer.
In court documents, however, Bryan Police Officer Brett Boswell described Supernaw as "obviously intoxicated" and said he was yelling obscenities and making obscene gestures. He showed the man his badge and decided to arrest him for public intoxication for his own safety, Boswell reported.
Supernaw contested the misdemeanor public intoxication charge in municipal court in May and was acquitted. If convicted of the remaining charge - evading arrest - he could face up to six months in jail.
"Is it your idea that somebody sent Brett Boswell to arrest you for some reason?" Judge Locke asked Tuesday afternoon, after Supernaw listed police agencies where he said officers have beaten him as part of a plan to ruin his recording career.
The 46-year-old, who sported shoulder-length hair and a black cowboy hat as he sat in the pre-trial hearing with defense attorneys Kyle Davis and Earl Gray, indicated that he rode his bicycle to court from The Woodlands the night before and was adamant about sharing his frustrations with jurors. Prosecutors David Higginson and Rebecca Eplen also sat in the tiny conference room as the judge presided over the hearing.
"It has been a political economic conspiracy, and I have proved it time and time and time again," he told the judge, explaining that it started when he was "held hostage in Paris" in a "mentally retarded home for terrorists" for two weeks in 2002. "Every arrest has been illegal. This is taking away from my life, and I've had enough."
In recent weeks, he said, two policemen from Montgomery tried to break his arm after finding out he planned to earn a living pitching.
Supernaw was arrested in Amarillo in 2005 after police reported finding him naked with marijuana in a room at a hotel where a Corpus Christi-based minor league baseball team was staying. In interviews with police, players dismissed the singer as "just a groupie," the Amarillo Globe-News reported.
On Tuesday, Supernaw said he was set up as a "test monkey" to see if someone can smoke marijuana and play baseball at the same time. He is not subject to marijuana laws because of his Native American ancestry, he said.
Supernaw has been arrested numerous times in Texas and Oklahoma in recent years - mostly for drug- and alcohol-related offenses.
The most serious charges were in Washington County, where he is accused of having attacked an officer on his birthday in 2002 and later jumping bail on two occasions. Prosecutors have tried to convict him three times for the felony charges, but each attempt has ended in a hung jury. |
I've played a couple of times with him, the last about four years ago. He was pretty intoxicated at both jobs. It's really a shame to see this kind of story repeated over and over in music.
_________________
Steve Stallings
Emmons Legrande II 8X5 |
|
|
 |
Mark Edwards
From:
Weatherford,Texas, USA
|
Posted 5 Apr 2007 1:55 pm
|
|
Steve - Unfortunately those who have substance abuse issues, got to hit that bottom, but it seems that Doug has other issues as well, that will need fixin other than his substance abuse. And yes it is sad to hear this in our line of work. Hope all works out well for him, this may be the best thing that has happened to him in that he might finally get the help he needs. 7
Keep us updated if you would, Thanks in advance. |
|
|
|
David L. Donald
From:
Koh Samui Island, Thailand
|
Posted 5 Apr 2007 7:00 pm
|
|
I suspect mental illness and substance abuse are
the roughly same levels in most business segments.
In the music, film and theater worlds
it might be easier to get 'imbibables',
and more psychphants are blowing smoke up your rear.
Not a good combination for stable mental health...
But essentially the media gives bigger press
to somebody who has, actually used the press
for career purposes, so singers actors and the like,
get their transgressions splashed on the wire services.
While most of us only get the local tattler
telling OUR tales of woe.
_________________
DLD, Chili farmer. Plus bananas and papaya too.
Real happiness has no strings attached.
But pedal steels have many! |
|
|
|
Mike Perlowin
From:
Los Angeles CA
|
Posted 5 Apr 2007 9:40 pm
|
|
| Quote: |
| Supernaw made a series of statements... including assertions ... he might be the secret love child of Marilyn Monroe and John F. Kennedy. |
Isn't the belief that one's parents are famous people a common symptom of some kinds of psychosis? |
|
|
|
Marlin Smoot
From:
Kansas
|
Posted 5 Apr 2007 10:01 pm
|
|
Around 2000-01, when I lived in Abilene, TX. the band I was with opened a show for Doug in San Angelo at a club called "Sante Fe". Doug was doing shots that night but he kept a level of control through out his performance.
I've seen him a couple of times doing shows and he always seemed on target but this was the early years. He also played golf like a pro as I remember it. I had a friend who was working with him on the management side (Bobby Yarghbrough also known as "Dog")
...and then there's a story in 1993-94 when Doug, Scott Michaels who was with BNA records (Dougs label at the time) and I went to Jauarez Mexico in my Rent-A-Car after having dinner with the music director at KHEY-FM in El Paso (I can't remember his name right now but it seemed like it was John?). I'm sure this story will be left out of his book if he ever writes one.
From the story posted here ... and in his own words ... is interesting to say the least. Doug was always a good guy the few times I was around him so I hope he gets the help he needs. I remember him being kinda funny...maybe he started to think his comedy was real? |
|
|
|
David Mason
From:
Cambridge, MD, USA
|
Posted 6 Apr 2007 2:17 am
|
|
| There's a lot of people with some predisposition to constitutional mental health problems, who would have been O.K. overall if the substances hadn't started to unlock their demons. (Repression is a good thing?) There's an unfortunate circularity to it all - what can start off as actually somewhat effective self-medication can end up in an insane asylum, if the mental aspects aren't addressed in time. |
|
|
|
Bill Dobkins
From:
Rolla Missouri, USA
|
Posted 6 Apr 2007 5:26 am
|
|
Doug, played our county fair several years ago.
He walked out on the stage with a cowboy hat bluejeans and a white tee shirt. There was no hype, just good music. After the first song he had captured the crowd. I was back stage and was talking to his mother. I complemented Doug on his powerfull
proformance. At that time she told me that Dougs record label had dropped him. The reason being was as she qouted, he wouldn't let them program him.
For that alone he has my upmost respect.
She wasn't sure about his future in music. Well after reading this post I guess now we know.
What a shame, what a talent and what a waste. |
|
|
|
Randy Reeves
From:
LaCrosse, Wisconsin, USA
|
Posted 6 Apr 2007 7:43 am
|
|
it is sad for the music world.
but it is even sadder when nobodies suffer from addictions. they have no support group at all.
and no press. |
|
|
|
Jody Sanders
From:
Magnolia,Texas, R.I.P.
|
Posted 6 Apr 2007 8:31 pm
|
|
| Opened for Doug one time. The PA System was terrible. Doug said he was not going to sing thru the system . he delayed the show until his crew set up Doug's system. He told us we sounded great on stage, but the board man and PA killed us. He did a good show. Later he started having all kinds of problems, such as shaving his head and too much alcohol. His early career was good , but really went bad later. Yes, Steve, this is kinda sad. Jody. |
|
|
|
