Rap mogul Suge Knight collapsed in a courtroom Friday shortly after a judge set his bail at $25 million in his pending murder case.
The co-founder of Death Row Records was walking back to the defense table after the judge initially left the bench so his lawyer could address a medical issue.
Knight hit the ground and appeared motionless when the judge cleared the courtroom.
Lawyer Matthew Fletcher came out about 10 minutes later and told Knight’s family that the burly inmate was still unconscious.
Knight’s mother started crying in the hallway, asking for more information.
“I’m very upset. I’m very upset,” Knight’s father told the Daily News. “We want him to be healthy. We just want to know he’s okay. We can deal with everything else. We just need him to be okay.”
Fletcher said Knight didn’t get a breakfast Friday morning and wasn’t receiving proper medication in custody. He said Knight has diabetes, glaucoma and a blood clot near his lung and was being kept in solitary confinement without hot water or a blanket As Daily News said.
Before he passed out, Knight was “sweating like a pig,” Fletcher said.
“He came through the door, he barely got to the table and he collapsed, literally head-first. Not one of these Maury Povich falls. Head-first down to the ground, that’s it, that’s where he lay,” Fletcher said.
An ambulance took Knight to a hospital, and Fletcher said he was awaiting an update late Friday morning.
The medical emergency came after Fletcher called the prosecution’s request for $25 million bail both “absurd” and “ludicrous” in his argument for a “more reasonable” bail of $2 million.
Prosecutors, meanwhile, called Knight a “prolific and unrepentant” criminal with a long history of violent behavior who's been extorting money from up-and-coming rappers.
In court, Deputy District Attorney Cynthia Barnes argued for the $25 million bail saying Knight “escalated his behavior and committed murder” after he was released on bail last year in a pending felony robbery case.
“Twenty-five million may be financial incentive enough to stop this behavior,” she told Judge Ronald Coen.
Knight, dressed in an orange jail uniform and black slippers, twitched his left arm repeatedly during the hearing.
He’s accused of mowing down two men with his truck in a restaurant parking lot on Jan. 29, injuring former gang member Cle “Bone” Sloan and killing local businessman Terry Carter.
Carter’s daughter Crystal Carter sat through the hearing and scoffed at Knight’s collapse as she left.
“He’s an actor,” said.
Another Carter relative called Knight "a murderer."
In her bail motion, Barnes said Knight has continued his "repugnant life of crime" in the last decade and pulled in millions from extortion along with his associates.
“Apparently, when a new artist or rapper comes to either Los Angeles or Las Vegas, he is required to pay a ‘tax’ to Defendant Knight,” the motion said.
Prosecutors said Knight is facing a life sentence if convicted and would be a flight risk if released.
Fletcher offered to have Knight outfitted with a monitoring ankle bracelet.
Prosecutors also claimed Knight made threats over the upcoming film "Straight Outta Compton," which chronicles the rise of iconic rap group N.W.A.
As the Daily News first reported, Sloan boasted to police after the parking lot incident that he punched Knight repeatedly in his truck.
Knight was acting in self-defense when he gunned his engine to get away from an armed assault and “accidentally” killed Carter, Fletcher said.
Fletcher said Sloan was armed at the scene.
The judge set a preliminary hearing in the case for April 13.
The co-founder of Death Row Records was walking back to the defense table after the judge initially left the bench so his lawyer could address a medical issue.
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| Suge Knight Collapses In Court After Judge Sets His Bail At $25 Million In Murder Case |
Knight hit the ground and appeared motionless when the judge cleared the courtroom.
Lawyer Matthew Fletcher came out about 10 minutes later and told Knight’s family that the burly inmate was still unconscious.
Knight’s mother started crying in the hallway, asking for more information.
“I’m very upset. I’m very upset,” Knight’s father told the Daily News. “We want him to be healthy. We just want to know he’s okay. We can deal with everything else. We just need him to be okay.”
Fletcher said Knight didn’t get a breakfast Friday morning and wasn’t receiving proper medication in custody. He said Knight has diabetes, glaucoma and a blood clot near his lung and was being kept in solitary confinement without hot water or a blanket As Daily News said.
Before he passed out, Knight was “sweating like a pig,” Fletcher said.
“He came through the door, he barely got to the table and he collapsed, literally head-first. Not one of these Maury Povich falls. Head-first down to the ground, that’s it, that’s where he lay,” Fletcher said.
An ambulance took Knight to a hospital, and Fletcher said he was awaiting an update late Friday morning.
The medical emergency came after Fletcher called the prosecution’s request for $25 million bail both “absurd” and “ludicrous” in his argument for a “more reasonable” bail of $2 million.
Prosecutors, meanwhile, called Knight a “prolific and unrepentant” criminal with a long history of violent behavior who's been extorting money from up-and-coming rappers.
In court, Deputy District Attorney Cynthia Barnes argued for the $25 million bail saying Knight “escalated his behavior and committed murder” after he was released on bail last year in a pending felony robbery case.
“Twenty-five million may be financial incentive enough to stop this behavior,” she told Judge Ronald Coen.
Knight, dressed in an orange jail uniform and black slippers, twitched his left arm repeatedly during the hearing.
He’s accused of mowing down two men with his truck in a restaurant parking lot on Jan. 29, injuring former gang member Cle “Bone” Sloan and killing local businessman Terry Carter.
Carter’s daughter Crystal Carter sat through the hearing and scoffed at Knight’s collapse as she left.
“He’s an actor,” said.
Another Carter relative called Knight "a murderer."
In her bail motion, Barnes said Knight has continued his "repugnant life of crime" in the last decade and pulled in millions from extortion along with his associates.
“Apparently, when a new artist or rapper comes to either Los Angeles or Las Vegas, he is required to pay a ‘tax’ to Defendant Knight,” the motion said.
Prosecutors said Knight is facing a life sentence if convicted and would be a flight risk if released.
Fletcher offered to have Knight outfitted with a monitoring ankle bracelet.
Prosecutors also claimed Knight made threats over the upcoming film "Straight Outta Compton," which chronicles the rise of iconic rap group N.W.A.
As the Daily News first reported, Sloan boasted to police after the parking lot incident that he punched Knight repeatedly in his truck.
Knight was acting in self-defense when he gunned his engine to get away from an armed assault and “accidentally” killed Carter, Fletcher said.
Fletcher said Sloan was armed at the scene.
The judge set a preliminary hearing in the case for April 13.
