A legal expert says it’s possible that country star Morgan Wallen could face several years behind bars after he allegedly threw a chair from a six-story rooftop bar on Lower Broadway in Downtown Nashville, Tennessee. The chair nearly hit two Metro Nashville Police Department officers standing in front of the bar.
Wallen, 30, faces felony charges in connection with the incident, which took place shortly before 11 p.m. on Sunday night (April 7) at Eric Church’s bar, Chief’s, which marked its official grand opening on Friday (April 5). Wallen is accused of reckless endangerment and disorderly conduct for throwing the chair, which landed approximately three feet away from two officers standing in front of the bar.
David Raybin, a criminal defense attorney based in Nashville, told PEOPLE in a story published on Wednesday morning (April 10) that Wallen could face up to six years in prison, and odds are “very remote” that he would receive maximum sentence and serve sentences simultaneously: “I seriously doubt how he would get consecutive time. It’s based on prior record and extreme dangerousness of the offense: professional, criminal, sex offense. It’s a pretty limited category. Generally speaking, this would not be consecutive. [Wallen’s] is a serious offense — I don’t want to minimize it, but still, he probably would not be eligible for consecutive sentences. It’s probably a maximum of two years assuming he was not put on probation.” Raybin also noted that Wallen, whose case is unique because he’s a high-profile artist, could face a “harsher sanction” for nearly hitting two officers. “That chair could have fallen on them, and they could have been killed.” Read the full story here.
Police say bar staff and other witnesses observed Wallen “lunging and throwing an object over the roof,” and saw him “pick up the chair, throw it over him, laughing afterward.” Officers also reviewed security camera footage to confirm Wallen’s actions that night. One day after the incident took place, TMZ shared one angle of security camera footage that captures the chair falling from the rooftop. Since the incident, Chief’s posted a sign referencing Wallen’s arrest, reading: “Our pigs fly. Our chairs don’t. Rodney Scott’s Whole Hog Rooftop BBQ.” There apparently was speculation that Wallen’s actions happened in connection with his ex-fiancée’s surprise marriage announcement days after she revealed she was engaged; however, KT Smith, who is also the mother of Wallen’s son, denied a connection and offered prayers that her ex “will return to the good path that he was on prior (to the incident).”
Wallen, who was released hours after he was booked into jail, “is cooperating fully with authorities,” per his attorney. The Davidson County Criminal Court shows is scheduled to appear in court on May 3.