Death Row Records founder Suge Knight took the stand on Wednesday (June 8), remotely from his cinderblock prison cell, to testify for the first time about a day in 2015 when he tried and failed, to get a meeting with legendary producer Dr. Dre and instead ended up killing a hamburger stand owner with his car.
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The 57-year-old Knight wanted to meet with Dre regarding the biopic Straight Outta Compton but ended up hitting two men outside a nearby burger stand with his truck and killing one of them.
Knight is currently serving a 28-year prison sentence for the deadly traffic incident that killed local business owner Terry Carter on January 29 at Tam’s Burgers in Compton, California.
Prosecutors in the case originally charged Knight with murder, saying he intentionally reversed his Ford truck before shifting gears and hitting the gas, barreling into Carter. The case then avoided trial after Knight accepted a plea deal for voluntary manslaughter in September 2018.
His testimony was shown to jurors in a Compton courthouse on Wednesday (June 8) as his defense in the wrongful death lawsuit brought by Carter’s wife and daughters, Rolling Stone reports.
In his testimony, Knight defended himself and discussed the events that led to the incident, which included a failed meeting with Dr. Dre. In the testimony, Knight says he wasn’t trying to confront Dr. Dre, despite also testifying that police had informed him that the Chronic producer hired the man who shot Suge seven times at Chris Brown’s pre-VMA party in 2014.
Dre. has previously denied the allegations in 2016, with his lawyer stating at the time, “Given that Dre has had zero interaction with Suge since leaving Death Row Records in 1996, we hope that Suge’s lawyer has lots of malicious prosecution insurance.”
On Wednesday, Knight claimed police told him about the alleged murder-for-hire contract from Dre, but said he didn’t believe the allegation either.
Knight said he was at the Straight Outta Compton office when someone told him to “come through” to talk about a “situation” with Dre.
Said Knight, “I was told about that. People showed me checks, cancelled checks. Dr. Dre—we’ve been really good friends for years. Matter of fact, I know his kids, he knows my kids. And I was told that he had paid some guys to harm me. I didn’t believe it because authorities do lie.
“So I went up there … I was going to talk to him and say, ‘Hey man, I’m not going to react to what authorities say about you having something to do with me getting shot. I just want to make you aware they are saying this, putting it out there.’”
Knight said he was at the office to tell Dre. about what police were telling him, rather than to raise issues about his portrayal in the biopic, or demand money for the movie using his name and likeness.
Knight said he’d heard Dre. and N.W.A. rapper Ice Cube were too “busy” for a meeting but later was told, “Hey, Cube wants you to come (back) because we’ve been trying to catch you to take care of you.”
Knight said he asked about Dre and didn’t want to wait around all day for the musician. Then Knight said a gang member Cle “Bone” Sloan became “aggressive.” He then said someone tried to put something on his windshield, which had his lawyer ask, “Were you ever served with a restraining order that Dr. Dre allegedly had on you?” To which Knight responded, “No, never.”
Knight said he “feared for his life” given Sloan’s aggressive behavior, and was acting in self-defense when he drove backward into Sloan and Carter.
Carter’s wife and family filed the wrongful death lawsuit in June 2015 and are seeking more than $10 million in damages. The case is expected to last into next week before going to the jury.
Photo by Steve Grayson/WireImage
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