Former rap mogul Marion “Suge” Knight collapsed in court today, shortly after a judge set his bail at $25 million in a case in which he’s accused of running down two men in Compton, killing one of them.
The 49-year-old Knight collapsed, knocking his head on a chair and falling unconscious, after being brought back into the courtroom. It marked at least the third time he has been hospitalized following a court hearing.
Defense attorney Matthew Fletcher said he noted that Knight was sweating profusely and that his right eye was fluttering and asked him what was wrong. He said his client said he hadn’t had his medication since Thursday.
“He’s being treated worse than Charles Manson,” Fletcher told reporters of Knight’s solitary confinement.
Knight’s collapse came within minutes after a hearing in which Judge Ronald S. Coen agreed to the prosecution’s request to set bail at $25 million. Knight had been held without bail since Feb. 2, shortly before being charged with one count each of murder and attempted murder and two counts of hit-and- run resulting in death or serious injury to another person.
At the time of his arrest Jan. 30 in connection with the crash a day earlier, he had been free on $500,000 bail in a separate case in which he and comedian Micah “Katt” Williams are charged with robbery for allegedly stealing a camera Sept. 5 from a paparazzo in Beverly Hills.
Knight’s attorney argued that the prosecution made “a mockery of this” by requesting $25 million bail — an amount he called “absurd.”‘ He asked the judge to set bail at $2 million, saying his client is “probably one of the most recognizable people in Los Angeles” and does not pose a flight risk.
Deputy District Attorney Cynthia Barnes countered that she was “appalled” by what she referred to in the prosecution’s court filing on bail Thursday as Knight’s “extensive history of violence, both in this case and over the last 30 years.”
The judge said he felt the request for $25 million bail was “reasonable and it is so set.” He noted that Knight could face multiple life prison terms if he is convicted of the charges.
Knight was ordered to return to court April 13 for a preliminary hearing that will determine if there is enough evidence to require him to stand trial for the death of 55-year-old Terry Carter.
He’s also charged with the attempted murder of Cle “Bone” Sloan, who survived being struck at 2:55 p.m. Jan. 29 in the parking lot of Tam’s Burgers in the 1200 block of West Rosecrans Avenue near Central Avenue.
Knight’s attorney contends that his client was attacked “in broad daylight” after being lured to the parking lot and that his client had a right to act in self-defense to try to get away from his assailants.
The prosecutor told the judge that Knight has been convicted of crimes in California and Nevada, along with federal court, and that he was on bail in the robbery case at the time of Carter’s death.
In the prosecution’s court filing Thursday, Barnes wrote that Knight is a “prolific and unrepentant criminal” whose “shameless life of crime” began when he was arrested on suspicion of attempted murder in Las Vegas.
In February 1995, Knight pleaded guilty to two counts of assault with a firearm and was subsequently sentenced to nine years in prison after he was found to have violated the terms of his probation, according to the motion.
Barnes wrote that once Knight was released from prison in 2002, he repeatedly violated parole and was sent back behind bars at least three times.
“Since his release from prison custody, Defendant Knight has continued his repugnant life of crime,” according to the motion.
The prosecution alleges that Knight has been implicated in a money- laundering scheme that lasted more than a decade and in an “ongoing extortion scheme” that apparently requires new artists to pay a “tax” to Knight when they come to Los Angeles or Las Vegas.
Knight, a Compton native and former football player, co-founded Death Row Records, which in its heyday in the early 1990s generated revenues of up to $100 million per year.
He helped launch some of rap’s biggest acts, including Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg and the late Tupac Shakur. Knight was with Shakur when the rapperwas gunned down in Las Vegas in 1996.
