Judge denies ‘Suge’ Knight request to drop charges in murder case

A Los Angeles County judge denied a defense request Tuesday to dismiss charges in the murder case against former rap mogul Marion “Suge” Knight.

Thomas A. Mesereau Jr. — the fourth attorney to represent Knight since his January arrest on suspicion of ramming his truck into two men, killing one of them — argued that video of the violent incident at a burger joint in Compton shows his client was acting in self-defense and that he shouldn’t have been criminally charged.

“I think it’s an outrage,” Mesereau said.

Superior Court Judge Stephen A. Marcus denied the motion, which argued the case should be dismissed because a witness hadn’t directly identified Knight in court at a preliminary hearing.

The refusal by Cle “Bone” Sloan, the surviving victim, to point at Knight in court, Marcus said, is a classic example of a recanting witness. But the judge said it was “very, very clear” that Knight was the person in the red truck captured on the video.

Mesereau said he plans to file a motion asking that Knight receive private medical treatment and another asking for a reduction to the onetime rap impresario’s $10-million bail. A bail hearing was set for July 17.

Knight has collapsed several times in court and was hospitalized after complaining of stomach problems. During some previous court hearings, bailiffs pushed Knight into the courtroom on a stretcher.

On Tuesday, Knight walked into and out of the courtroom without help and sat silently through much of the hearing. His left shoulder twitched repeatedly and he turned to smile at his family as he walked out of the courtroom.

Knight is charged with running over Sloan and Terry Carter, who died, at Tam’s Burgers in Compton on Jan. 29.

He also faces charges in a case in which prosecutors say he and comedian Micah “Katt” Williams stole a camera from an independent celebrity photographer on Sept. 5, 2014.

A preliminary hearing in the robbery case was set for Sept. 17.

For more news from the Los Angeles County criminal courts, follow @marisagerber