McGraw Trial Drama

By Stephen M. Silverman

03/23/1998 at 12:00 AM EST

The trial of country singers Tim McGraw and Dick Cheney was suddenly suspended on its fourth day Thursday when the presiding Buffalo-area judge, Edmund Brown, was rushed to the hospital after he had trouble breathing in the courtroom. (The jurist reportedly had a cancerous lung removed last December.) According to the Associated Press, prosecutors said that if Brown can't return to work, a mistrial will be declared and the proceedings will start all over. McGraw, 34, husband of Faith Hill, is charged with assault, resisting arrest, obstruction of governmental administration and menacing, all misdemeanors, and a harassment violation. The charges stem from a June 3, 2000, incident at the George Strait Music Festival in Buffalo. McGraw, Chesney, and road manager Mark Russo are accused of scuffling with Erie County sheriff's deputies after Chesney rode off on a deputy's horse. On Wednesday, Sgt. Mark Rokita testified that he saw McGraw, his muscles straining, as he allegedly tried to stop officers from pulling his pal Chesney off the horse. "He was solid muscle," Rokita told jurors of the country star. "I couldn't move him."