Suge Knight’s chances for freedom have been dealt yet another blow, and his attorney isn’t mincing words. During a hearing earlier this week, a Los Angeles County judge quickly dismissed the former Death Row Records mogul’s latest effort to overturn his 28-year prison term. Judge Laura F. Priver ruled that Knight’s request was too late and insincere, which did not sit well with his legal team, Rolling Stone reported.
In a ruling Tuesday (March 4), Judge Priver denied Knight’s petition for a writ of habeas corpus, saying it offered no valid legal argument and was not filed promptly. Though Knight said multiple circumstances, among them, the COVID-19 pandemic, inadequate conditions in the prison, insufficient legal assistance, and even one eye becoming blind, kept him from taking action earlier, the judge was not persuaded.
“It is evident that the petitioner was neither as isolated nor as unable to act as he would like this court to believe,” Priver wrote. “He could have filed the writ timely if he so wished.”
The ruling was angered Knight’s longtime attorney, David Kenner, who called the judge’s decision “shocking and unconscionable.”
“I think that the court has severely erred in the ruling that it made,” Kenner told Rolling Stone. “I believe it’s legally incorrect and the court did not follow the law.”
Kenner quickly began plotting his next steps. “He took the fight to appeal court, arguing Knight deserved an evidentiary hearing before any ruling was made,” he said.
“She has unilaterally chosen to credit the district attorney and to disbelieve Mr. Knight,” Kenner added. “This violates every constitutional right he has, and unfortunately, is not new for him.”
Kenner was not shy about noting what he believed to be an ingrained injustice in Knight’s case. “This case is the most obvious attack on an accused person’s rights that I’ve ever seen in 40 years of practicing law prosecutorial and judicial interference on a scale I’ve never encountered.” He had less right to communicate with the lawyer of his choosing than detainees at Guantanamo Bay.”
Knight’s legal issues date back to a 2015 hit-and-run that took place in Compton, California, on set for the N.W.A biopic Straight Outta Compton. In a bloody twist, Knight drove over two men, Cle “Bone” Sloan and Terry Carter, outside of Tam’s Burgers. Sloan survived, but Carter did not.
The prosecution contended that Knight intentionally weaponized his automobile, while Knight claimed that he acted in self-defense, fearing for his life after being surrounded. Confronted with the possibility of life in prison, Knight eventually took a plea deal to no contest to voluntary manslaughter in 2018, which led him to his current 28-year Sentence of imprisonment.
The long Sentence reflected his previous criminal history and California’s three-strikes law. He pleaded no contest and was sentenced to 22 years for voluntary manslaughter plus six years for earlier convictions.
Knight continues to sit behind bars, but his legal team does not give up. Kenner pledged to file an aggressive appeal, indicating the battle is just beginning. However, whether the courts will give Suge Knight another chance at freedom remains to be seen.
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