Entertainment

Citing Illness, Suge Knight Refuses to Leave Cell for Court

Published

9 years ago

May 28, 2015

This April 8, 2015 file photo shows former rap mogul Marion “Suge” Knight appears in a Los Angeles court on charges that he and comedian Micah “Katt” Williams stole a photographer’s camera in Beverly Hills, Calif. Knight refused to attend a court hearing on Wednesday May 27, 2015, in a robbery case filed after a celebrity photographer accused him and comedian Katt Williams of stealing her camera last year. A Los Angeles judge said Knight told deputies he was too sick to come to court. (AP Photo/Los Angeles Times, Irfan Khan, Pool, File)

ANTHONY McCARTNEY, AP Entertainment Writer

LOS ANGELES (AP) — A judge stopped short of ordering Marion “Suge” Knight forcibly removed from his jail cell Wednesday after the rap music mogul said he was sick and refused to go to court for a hearing in his robbery case.

Los Angeles Superior Court Ronald S. Coen said Knight told deputies he was too ill to leave his downtown LA jail cell. Coen said he did not order deputies to forcibly remove Knight because the Death Row Records co-founder has a hearing in his murder case Friday.

Instead, the judge delayed Wednesday’s proceedings to coincide with that hearing.

But Coen said he would take a harder line with Knight, who is charged along with comedian Katt Williams with stealing a celebrity photographer’s camera. In the separate case, Knight is accused of running over two men with his pickup truck, killing one and seriously injuring the other.

“No one refuses to come to my court,” Coen told a prosecutor and an attorney for Williams.

Knight’s court appearances have been marked by frequent medical episodes, occasional outbursts and shake-ups to his legal team.

On Wednesday, Coen apologized to Williams’ lawyer Shawn Holley for making her return to court Friday for a scheduling hearing.

“I can’t afford to play any games” with Knight, Coen said.

Knight fired his lawyer in the robbery case at a previous hearing, and has not yet hired a new one. Coen said he would appoint an attorney for Knight if he didn’t have one by Friday.

Knight and Williams have pleaded not guilty to taking the photographer’s camera in Beverly Hills in September, just days after Knight was wounded in a nightclub shooting.

Knight also has pleaded not guilty in the murder case, which was filed after he ran over two men outside a Compton burger stand in January. His attorney has said he was fleeing an ambush. Coen has determined there is enough evidence for Knight to stand trial in the case, but Knight’s attorney Matt Fletcher is scheduled to argue it should be dismissed at Friday’s hearing.

Knight, 50, was a key player in the gangster rap scene that flourished in the 1990s, and his label once listed Dr. Dre, Tupac Shakur and Snoop Dogg among its artists.

Knight lost control of the company after it was forced into bankruptcy. He has prior felony convictions for armed robbery and assault with a gun. He pleaded no contest in 1995 and was sentenced to five years’ probation for assaulting two rap entertainers at a Hollywood recording studio in 1992.

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Anthony McCartney can be reached at http://twitter.com/mccartneyAP

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A’s Last Game in Oakland Ends Baseball Team’s 57-Year Tenure Congresswoman Barbara Lee’s Efforts to Save Team Blocked by GOP-Controlled House

After 57 years, the Athletics have left Oakland following a home series this week. Though Congresswoman Barbara Lee introduced legislation to keep the team in Oakland, she could not get the backing she needed from other legislators in the Republican-controlled House of Representatives.

Published

2 weeks ago

October 1, 2024

Oakland Post

Wikimedia image.

By Post Staff

After 57 years, the Athletics have left Oakland following a home series this week.

Though Congresswoman Barbara Lee introduced legislation to keep the team in Oakland, she could not get the backing she needed from other legislators in the Republican-controlled House of Representatives.

Lee tried 15 months ago, the day before Nevada politicians approved $380 million in public funds to build a Las Vegas ballpark. Lee proposed a bill that would have stopped the A’s move by requiring a hefty exit fee that would have made them reconsider a move.

“That’s only fair,” Lee said in an interview in the Los Times by sportswriter Bill Shaikin. “That’s the only fair way to do it,” she said. “You’ve got to compensate the community, because the community has invested a heck of a lot.”

However, Lee’s bill could not go forward without the backing it needed. First, it went to the House Judiciary Committee chaired by Rep. Jim Jordan, the Ohio Republican. Jordan did not co-sponsor Lee’s bill or permit the committee hearing required for the bill to move forward.

“We put up a good fight. The city put up a good fight, the county, everyone,” said Lee.

“Unfortunately, we are losing a team that really, in the day, exemplified Black excellence in Oakland. It’s more than just the team leaving. It’s a part of Oakland’s history, and our culture,” she said.