Judge Recuses Himself From Rapper’s Case

The judge overseeing Marion “Suge” Knight’s probation abruptly decided Wednesday to take himself off the rap mogul’s case, even as the district attorney’s office declined to turn the case over to state officials because of a possible conflict of interest involving one of its prosecutors.

Los Angeles Superior Court Judge John Ouderkirk recused himself after a challenge from Knight’s defense lawyers, who argued that the judge might be called as a witness to testify about his conversations--if any--with Knight’s probation officers as well as defense lawyers and prosecutor Lawrence M. Longo.

Longo is under investigation by the district attorney’s office because of financial ties between Knight and Longo’s family that developed while Longo monitored Knight’s probation. Longo’s daughter was signed to a deal with Knight’s Death Row Records, and the music executive lived this summer in the Longo family’s home in the exclusive Malibu Colony.

Ouderkirk said Wednesday that he was confident he could still be fair and evenhanded but that he was stepping down for the sake of appearances.

“It’s difficult to take the witness stand and sit on the bench at the same time,” Ouderkirk said. “It’s impossible.”

The case was promptly reassigned to Superior Court Judge J. Stephen Czuleger. He called a hearing for Friday on the continuing involvement of the district attorney’s office and asked lawyers to file briefs today on the “issue of the appearance of justice being done.”

The courtroom developments marked an unexpected twist in a case that Ouderkirk said, before stepping down, involves “incredible allegations” and an “unprecedented set of circumstances.”

Those circumstances stem from Knight’s assault on two would-be rappers at a Hollywood recording studio in 1992, the same year he founded Death Row. The case ended in 1995, when Knight pleaded no contest to two counts of assault.

On the recommendation of Longo and Knight’s lead defense attorney, Encino lawyer David Kenner, Ouderkirk imposed a nine-year suspended prison sentence and five years probation. Among the terms of probation were that Knight undergo drug testing and notify a probation officer before foreign travel.

On Jan. 2, 1996, Longo’s daughter, Gina, then 18, was signed to a multi-album Death Row Records deal. Gina Longo has not released any music to date. However, she has written a composition titled “Caught Up” and was teamed with Death Row’s prized newcomer, R&B; crooner Danny Boy, on a duet.

At the end of May, Knight moved into the Malibu Colony home. He moved out Oct. 18.

The three-story Malibu house, which is held in a Longo family trust, was rented to David Kenner & Associates for $19,000 per month on a one-year lease that expires May 1. Longo has said Kenner put Knight in the house. Although Knight moved out, the lease is still in effect.

Longo’s son, Frank, who is also an attorney, negotiated the lease for the house, and received a 10% commission on the deal. Frank Longo also negotiated his sister’s record deal.

The district attorney’s office received a tip Sept. 17 about Knight living in the Malibu house. Longo was promptly removed from the case and the district attorney’s office launched a personnel investigation but did not notify Ouderkirk of that probe.

On Oct. 22, Ouderkirk sent Knight to jail pending a hearing for, among other things, allegedly testing positive for marijuana. The hearing is set for Nov. 15.

In court Wednesday, Deputy Dist. Atty. William Hodgman told Ouderkirk that he had reviewed the entire file and found nothing suggesting that a conflict of interest existed in February 1995, when the plea bargain was struck.

Because Longo was removed from the Knight case as soon as authorities learned of a possible conflict of interest, Hodgman said, “I know of no basis why the district attorney’s office should be disqualified from the case.”

Carol Pollack, who heads the attorney general’s criminal division in Los Angeles, concurred.

Ouderkirk, however, said he had been reevaluating a number of incidents that had occurred since the plea bargain was signed.

“When I saw those L.A. Times articles on Friday, I thought to myself, ‘There may be lots of things that become relevant to this case that looked meaningless a long time ago,’ ” the judge said Wednesday.

Longo’s behavior regarding the federal drug tests was called into question by Ouderkirk more than a year ago, according to court records.

The judge chastised Longo on Aug. 11, 1995, for failing to notify him that federal officials had received a possible positive drug test violation on Knight, who is on three years probation in a federal weapons case. Indeed, Ouderkirk told Longo in court then that he felt “snookered.”

Longo had trouble again two months ago obtaining the results of drug tests conducted by federal probation authorities. The district attorney’s office still does not have those results.

Longo’s attorney, Donald Wager, said Longo had done nothing wrong and blamed the drug test mishaps on a breakdown in communication between federal officials and the district attorney’s office over the handling of evidence.

Meanwhile, Knight’s defense attorneys said in court that they had been reevaluating a number of incidents--and concluded that Ouderkirk had to step down.

Among them was a call Ouderkirk received Aug. 9 from a county probation officer who reported that Knight had tested positive for marijuana, according to court records.

Another call came to Ouderkirk’s court Sept. 20 from Longo. The prosecutor, according to court files, left a message for Ouderkirk saying he had been taken off the Knight case and didn’t know why.

Defense attorney Marcia Morrissey told Ouderkirk that the judge might be called to testify--for the defense--at the Nov. 15 probation violation hearing about those calls.

After the Aug. 9 call, Ouderkirk abruptly ordered more drug tests on Aug. 19. Explaining why the judge might be a witness, Morrissey and other defense lawyers contended that Ouderkirk did not make clear to Knight what the new rules were.

After taking a break to consider what to do, Ouderkirk came back to the bench and announced he was stepping down.

Before giving up the case, Ouderkirk made one final observation, saying that disclosures of financial relationships between Longo and Knight raised the “specter of criminal charges.”

Possible charges, he said, included obstruction of justice, bribery and extortion.

Hodgman later emphasized that the district attorney’s investigation is of Longo only and is a personnel matter, not a criminal probe.

But defense attorneys remained livid afterward--the memory still raw of the bench warrant Ouderkirk had issued Monday after Kenner did not appear in court. The warrant was recalled after the lawyer showed up Wednesday.

“I’m outraged that Mr. Knight is in custody with no bail over an alleged marijuana test violation when Mark Fuhrman was given a [$200] fine by the same judge for committing multiple counts of perjury on camera in front of the entire world,” Kenner said afterward, adding, “What’s wrong with this picture?”

Along with the hearing he set for Friday on the district attorney’s role in the case, Czuleger also set a bail hearing for Knight for Wednesday.

He also asked the lawyers how long they thought the probation violation hearing would take. Most take a day or less.

In jest, Hodgman replied that there already is talk around the courthouse that the Nov. 15 hearing “may be the [probation violation] hearing of the century,” a wry reference to the O.J. Simpson double murder case. Hodgman was one of the prosecutors in the Simpson case.

Czuleger replied: “It won’t be.”