No Proof Against Knight in Slaying, Attorney Says

An attorney for rap music executive Marion “Suge” Knight said Los Angeles detectives have no evidence linking the imprisoned businessman to the slaying of rapper Notorious B.I.G. and accused investigators of falsely identifying his client as a key suspect in the 2-year-old murder case.

“This was nothing but a fishing expedition in which LAPD detectives intentionally disseminated false and misleading statements to the media,” said attorney Robin J. Yanes.

In April, Los Angeles Police Department detectives investigating the slaying of the 24-year-old rapper, whose real name was Christopher Wallace, obtained court orders to search several places linked to Knight--the founder of Beverly Hills-based Death Row Records. The court documents in which detectives detailed the reasons that they wanted to search those sites were filed under seal and remain unavailable for public scrutiny.

“Mr. Knight was never involved in any way in the shooting of Christopher Wallace, and any information that was provided by the LAPD to the judge on the affidavit to obtain a search warrant was false,” Yanes said.

The attorney added that after four months of pointing the finger at Knight, the LAPD “needs to either put up or shut up. Either come out with some evidence against Mr. Knight or clear his name. Don’t just leave him hanging and living under the stigma of these false allegations. It’s wrong to do that to a person. And it’s had a dramatic impact on Mr. Knight’s life.”

LAPD officials refused to characterize the status of the investigation of Knight, or what type of evidence they may have allegedly linking him to the crime, other than to say that detectives are still moving forward on the case and reviewing information seized during the searches.

“The LAPD does not go on fishing expeditions,” said Cmdr. David J. Kalish. “This is a very complex homicide investigation and our detectives are methodical, thorough and tenacious in their approach toward solving this crime.”

The LAPD detectives assigned to the Wallace investigation have not focused all their attention on the case since conducting the searches because of vacation schedules, court appearances and investigative work on other cases, sources said.

In their effort to gather evidence, police searched the offices of Death Row Records, as well as the residences of several of Knight’s employees and friends. During the sweep, detectives searched the contents of the company’s safe and confiscated office computers, files and records, and a Chevrolet Impala, which police said resembled the killer’s getaway car.

The next day, detectives traveled to the California Men’s Colony in San Luis Obispo and attempted to interview Knight without notifying his attorney. Detectives searched Knight’s cell and spent several days at the prison poring over phone records, mail and interviewing other inmates, sources said.

Police spent the next six weeks running lab tests on the car and inspecting the company’s computer files and records, but failed to uncover any evidence and were forced to return the items under court order, according to Yanes.

“Do you think the police would have ever returned Mr. Knight’s car if there was any evidence that it had been used in the commission of the crime?” Yanes asked. “Not a chance. The fact is that vehicle would be people’s exhibit A in court if they had any real intention of prosecuting Mr. Knight.”

Wallace, a 24-year-old rap sensation from Brooklyn, N.Y., was shot to death as he sat in a car preparing to leave a music industry party at the Petersen Automotive Museum in the Miracle Mile district of Los Angeles.

The focus on Knight built on earlier speculation that the March 9, 1997, slaying stemmed from a feud between East and West Coast rappers. At one point, detectives took the investigation in a different direction and speculated that Wallace was gunned down over a financial dispute with a member of the Southside Crips--possibly the result of an unpaid security bill. Now, the investigation is back to the theory that Wallace died as a result of a bicoastal feud between two rap labels: Death Row Records and New York-based Bad Boy Records--where Wallace worked.

Knight, however, was in jail at the time. Detectives sought the search warrants under the theory that Wallace’s slaying was the result of a murder-for-hire plot involving Knight.

Knight, a 315-pound former University of Nevada at Las Vegas football star with an extensive police record, is serving a nine-year prison term in connection with an unrelated 1992 attack on two aspiring rappers in a Hollywood recording studio.

Immediately after police identified Knight as a suspect in Wallace’s killing, authorities at the California Men’s Colony reclassified the inmate as a flight risk and locked him up 24 hours a day in solitary confinement, sources said. Within weeks, Knight was shipped to Mule Creek State Prison in Ione, a higher security facility east of Sacramento that is surrounded by an electric fence.

Yanes said Knight has not been able to address the accusations made available to the media by police because authorities have sealed the information from public view.

“The secrecy involved in this case is insane,” Yanes said. “Mr. Knight cannot refute any of these allegations simply because the authorities are keeping the affidavit in which they are contained under seal. The fact remains, however, that even after police seized Mr. Knight’s property and spent thousands of hours of investigators’ time chasing these false allegations, not one shred of evidence has been uncovered that in any way connects Mr. Knight with the tragic events that occurred.”