Relinquish ‘Suge’ Knight Case

Dist. Atty. Gil Garcetti should relinquish today the case of Marion “Suge” Knight to state Atty. Gen. Dan Lungren to avoid even the appearance of a conflict of interest in his office.

At the very least it looks bad. Knight, a wealthy record executive on probation for assaulting two would-be rappers, lived until recently in an oceanfront home in exclusive Malibu Colony that his lawyer leased from the family of assistant D.A. Lawrence M. Longo, who prosecuted Knight in the assault case. Meanwhile, Knight’s hugely profitable rap label, Death Row Records, which has recorded such rappers as Snoop Doggy Dog and the slain Tupac Shakur, also signed Longo’s teenage daughter to a recording deal--at the same time Longo was monitoring Knight’s probation and supervising his case. That’s way too cozy.

Longo was initially assigned to the case in 1992 after Knight was charged with assaulting Lynwood and George Stanley, who wanted to record for his label. As part of a civil settlement, the brothers received a $1-million deal from Death Row. Knight subsequently pleaded no contest in an unusual plea bargain, which included a suspended nine-year prison sentence and five years’ probation. Longo handled the case until last month. Knight is currently in jail on charges of violating his probation. The potential conflict of interest was made public in The Times last week.

Longo insists he did nothing unlawful or unethical; however, members of his family clearly did business with and benefited from financial relationships with a defendant who was assigned to him. If that isn’t wrong, it should be.

Prosecutors are required by the district attorney’s office policy to report anything that may be a conflict of interest for any reason for possible referral to the state attorney general’s office. This is more than a personnel matter. The D.A.’s office and the State Bar of California are currently investigating.

No boss can possibly know everything that goes on in a huge office. However, Garcetti, who has refused to comment on the case so far, should indicate what he knew and when he knew it and then turn the case over to state prosecutors.