Rap mogul Marion “Suge” Knight has pleaded not guilty to murder and other charges in the death of a man run over by a car in Los Angeles last week, numerous outlets have reported.
Authorities have charged Knight with murder, attempted murder and a hit-and-run after his arrest last week. The incident, which took place outside a restaurant in Compton, followed an “altercation,” the Los Angeles district attorney’s office said Monday. Knight was driving his truck and allegedly ran over two men in the parking lot. Terry Carter, 55, died, and the other man was injured. The district attorney’s office said the driver left the scene.
The Death Row Records founder turned himself in on Friday and was arrested on suspicion of murder, but formal charges did not come until Monday, hours after $2 million bail was revoked, as police argued that Knight was a flight risk.
Police had said it appeared that the altercation took place on the set of a movie, and that at least one victim was a member of the crew.
“Looks like he drove backwards and struck the victims and drove forwards and struck them again,” Lt. John Corina, a sheriff’s office spokesman, told reporters last week. “The people we talked to say it looked like it was an intentional act.”
At the time of the incident, Knight was out on bail in connection with a robbery case. He has now been charged with murder, attempted murder and two hit-and-run counts “with an allegation that he committed a serious and violent felony while out on bail in another pending case,” the district attorney’s office said.
This qualifies as a third-strike case for Knight, 49, and he faces the possibility of life in prison, the district attorney’s office said.
Last week, Knight’s attorney, James Blatt, acknowledged that his client ran over two people and called it an accident. Blatt told the Los Angeles Times that Carter was Knight’s friend who was trying to break up a fight, and that Knight didn’t realize he had run over anybody.
“Mr. Knight was attacked by a group of men while he was in his vehicle,” Blatt said, according to the Times. “They were beating him, threatening to kill him and attempting to drag him outside of the vehicle. He made an effort to escape, he was in fear for his life. And that’s exactly what he did.”
(via Washington Post)
