Whether he deserved it or not, Chris Cagle's little lady ended up doing him a good turn.
The country singer was found not guilty of domestic violence Thursday after Jennifer Tant, who had accused him of roughing her up in May, refused to testify against him.
"Justice was done,” Cagle's attorney, Bill Ramsey, told the Nashville Tennessean afterward. “It was ridiculous that these charges were ever brought."
Both Cagle and Tant were arrested and booked on misdemeanor domestic-assault charges after some verbal sparring at a Nashville bar led to a full-out drunken brawl at Cagle's home, during which Tant supposedly whacked her boyfriend with an umbrella and he smacked her with her own purse.
According to the Tennessean, Tant took the stand this morning and, because she is a codefendant, invoked her right not to incriminate herself and refused to answer Assistant District Attorney General Jenni Smith's questions.
In turn, the prosecutor opted to drop the fight against Tant and Davidson County Judge Gale Robinson dismissed her case.
One police officer who was at the scene had already testified that Cagle told him he had pushed Tant to protect himself, while another stated that Tant had marks on her upper arms and a small cut on her lip after the incident.
But although Cagle may have cleared one legal hurdle, he's still facing a major hitch in his git-along.
The Play It Loud singer is scheduled to stand trial Sept. 23 in Tucson, Ariz., on an assault rap for allegedly punching a man at a benefit concert last December.