In Los Angeles, Suge Knight’s preliminary trial started today, but is there enough evidence to convict him!
The man whom Marion “Suge” Knight ran over told authorities he was upset with the former rap music mogul and punched him through the window of the truck before a deadly encounter that left his friend dead.
Cle “Bone” Sloan testified this morning about the day he and friend Terry Carter were hit by a pickup truck driven by Knight, the co-founder of Death Row Records. But, Sloan refused to identify Knight as the man behind the wheel when he was struck outside a Compton burger stand on Jan. 29, saying he “didn’t remember specifics of the fight.”
In his statement he said, he does not want to be a “snitch! I will not be used to send Suge Knight to prison,” adding that he was only on the stand because he was subpoenaed.
Sloan’s testimony was offered during a preliminary hearing today, Monday, during which a judge will determine whether there’s enough evidence for Knight to stand trial on murder, attempted murder and hit-and-run charges. Authorities contend Knight intentionally hit Sloan and Carter. But Knight’s attorney Matt Fletcher says his client was ambushed and was trying to escape an attack when he hit the men.
Sloan said he was trying to forget details of the accident, in which he suffered two fractured ankles, a serious cut to his head, two torn ligaments in his knees and a shoulder injury. Sloan also said…“Every day, I tried to forget it, I just know, I screwed up, and Terry’s dead.”
A Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Ronald Coen said of Sloan’s testimony, “I find that this witness is being deceptive.”
Knight, 49, 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.
Knight faces up to life in prison if convicted of killing Carter. Knight is being held on $25 million bail.
