Suge Knight, Ex-Hip Hop Mogul, To Stand Trial On Murder Charges

Marion “Suge” Knight, former hip hop mogul, will be standing trial for murder and attempted murder charges.

Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Ronald Coen said Thursday that there was enough evidence to move forward with a trial against Knight, according to The Los Angeles Times. Knight will be standing accused of hitting two people in a restaurant parking lot in Compton earlier in 2015.

Knight was later taken to a hospital, though his condition and the cause of his hospitalization are not yet known, Yahoo News reported. Knight’s latest hospitalization marks the fifth time he was taken from court proceedings for emergency health reasons. Knight was last hospitalized upon hearing that his bail was set at $25 million, as reported by The Inquisitr.

Coen had rejected Knight’s claim that he had acted in self-defense. Knight says that he was attempting to flee when he hit the two men.

Police argue that when Knight hit both men, killing Terry Carter and injuring Cle “Bone” Sloan, that he had done so intentionally.

Matt Fletcher, Knight’s attorney, claims though that Knight was being attacked. In his attempt to flee the attack, Knight hit both men with his truck, Fletcher claims. The attack was captured on security footage.

Fletcher argued in court,

“There’s no intent to kill… There’s an intent to survive.”

Judge Coen, on the other hand, says that the security footage showed Knight intentionally trying to kill when he accelerated toward the two men. Coen also reduced Knight’s bail to $10 million from $25 million. Coen also threw out one of the charges of hit-and-run, saying that the charge only counts for a individual event, even if there were multiple victims.

Sloan testified on Monday, saying that he would not be used to send Knight to prison out of fear of being labeled a “snitch.”

Sloan said during his testimony,

“I don’t want it to get misconstrued that I told on this man… I’m no snitch… I will not be used to send Suge Knight to prison.”

Sloan is a self-described “nonactive gang member,” as well as an actor, film maker and adviser for the upcoming bio-pic Straight Outta Compton.

Sloan suffered several severe injuries as a result of the hit-and-run, including two fractured ankles, two torn knee ligaments, a shoulder injury and a head wound. He says that he is trying to move past the incident that got Carter killed.

Sloan said:

“Every day, I try to forget it – I just know, I screwed up and Terry’s dead.”

If Knight is convicted he would face a mandatory sentence of 25 years to life in prison. Knight was one of the co-founders of Death Row Records, which represented such influential rap artists as Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg and Tupac in the 1990s.

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