‘Suge’ Knight still in jail; bail hearing pushed back to late March
Marion “Suge” Knight will be sitting in jail for another month as his bail review hearing has been pushed back to March 20.
Knight, 49, appeared healthy and sipped from a cup of water a sheriff’s deputy gave him while he sat handcuffed in orange jail garments in a Compton courthouse Monday morning. The former head of Death Row Records has been in custody since being arrested on suspicion of running over two men with his car, killing one of them.
Knight is charged with murder, attempted murder and two counts of hit-and-run with an allegation that the former rap mogul committed a violent felony while out on bail pending another case.
The co-founder of Death Row Records was being held without bail after Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department officials argued that he was a possible flight risk and had “witness intimidation issues.” They also cited his criminal past.
His attorney David Kenner was expected to ask for the judge to grant bail so Knight could be released. But on Monday, Deputy Dist. Atty. Cynthia Barnes said there was still work to be done before a bail hearing.
“I have a very large stack of uncharged crimes” connected to Knight, she said.
In a separate move, Kenner requested that Knight be allowed to see his own doctor while in custody. Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Ricardo Ocampo denied it.
“I’m not going to grant that. The county has more-than-competent doctors,” the judge said.
Asked how Knight was feeling, Kenner said, “In terms of the case, optimistic. In terms of his health, not so much.”
On Tuesday, immediately following the hearing in which he was charged, Knight was taken to a hospital for an unspecified medical emergency. He was treated and later released into police custody.
During a news conference Monday, Kenner described Knight’s health problems as serious.
“Blood clots are always potentially life-threatening,” he said. “I understand that he passed out and was having some serious bleeding issues.”
Knight is accused of deliberately running over Terry Carter, 55, and Cle “Bone” Sloan, 51, in a restaurant parking lot following an argument on the set of a commercial for the N.W.A biopic “Straight Outta Compton.” Authorities said Sloan and Knight were fighting but that Carter was not involved in the fight.
Carter was killed and Sloan was injured in the incident.
Investigators said that after striking the men, Knight, who was in his Ford F-150 truck, drove away. He was arrested the following morning.
His former attorney, James E. Blatt, said Knight was assaulted and accidentally ran over the men while trying to escape his attackers. He said Knight was heartbroken over the death of Carter, a longtime friend.
Nearly 2,000 mourners attended Carter’s funeral service Saturday at the First AME Church in the West Adams neighborhood.
Twitter: @VeronicaRochaLA, @marisagerber
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