Judge Refuses To Dismiss Murder Charge Against Suge Knight
LOS ANGELES (CBSLA.com) — A judge refused Tuesday to dismiss a murder case against former rap mogul Marion "Suge" Knight for allegedly running down two men in Compton in January, killing one.
Knight, 50, is charged with killing 55-year-old Terry Carter and injuring Cle "Bone" Sloan on Jan. 29 with his pickup truck in the parking lot of Tam's Burgers in the 1200 block of West Rosecrans Avenue.
Defense attorney Thomas Mesereau – the latest in a string of attorneys representing Knight – argued there were troubling issues in the case and it was an "outrage that anyone would be charged with homicide in a case like this."
Deputy District Attorney Cynthia Barnes countered that there was sufficient evidence against Knight for the case to move forward.
Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Stephen Marcus agreed with Barnes, noting he had reviewed transcripts from an April preliminary hearing, during which Knight was ordered to stand trial.
At the April hearing, Sloan said he remembered little about the confrontation and said he would not be used as a "snitch" to put Knight behind bars. When asked to identify Knight in court, Sloan hesitated and suggested the defendant did not look like the man who ran him down.
But in a transcript of an interview with detectives while hospitalized, Sloan said he argued with Knight earlier at a film set.
Knight is being held in lieu of $10 million bail, but Mesereau is expected to ask the judge to lower his client's bail at a July 17 hearing.
At a separate hearing also held Tuesday morning, Judge Ronald S. Coen denied the defense's request to send Knight's murder case back to Compton for trial and the robbery case back to the Airport Branch Courthouse for trial.
Mesereau -- who successfully defended singer Michael Jackson against child molestation charges and represented actor Robert Blake for a time in a murder case -- told reporters in May that he has "had hours of discussions with Mr. Knight and I am convinced he's innocent."
Knight has had a series of medical problems since being arrested. He was hospitalized on at least three different occasions following court hearings.
At the time of his arrest on the murder case, Knight was out on bail in a robbery case, in which he is charged with comedian Micah "Katt" Williams. He's been behind bars since being arrested Jan. 30 by sheriff's homicide investigators in connection with Carter's death.
Knight and Williams are awaiting a Sept. 17 hearing to determine if there is enough evidence to require them to stand trial in the robbery case.
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