With a retrial looming Monday, a judge Thursday denied a motion by an attorney for Marion “Suge” Knight to withdraw from representing the rap mogul in a second go-round of the civil suit filed against Knight by the family of a man he ran over and killed with a truck run in 2015.
Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Thomas D. Long used strong language in his written ruling denying attorney David Kenner’s motion to leave the case.
“Mr. Kenner’s motion, filed one month before trial (and) received by (Knight) two weeks before trial, and heard only two court days before trial, is a request to abandon his client at a critical point, severely prejudicing (Knight),” the judge wrote.
“This prejudice is amplified by (Knight’s) incarceration, hindering his ability to obtain replacement counsel and rendering his self-representation nearly impossible.”
Knight stated that he learned about Kenner’s intent to withdraw when Knight’s family read news articles about the motion, the judge further wrote, adding that Knight contends he “was never made aware that there was any breakdown in the relationship” with Kenner as the attorney contends.
Knight, now 59, addressed the court by phone during Thursday’s hearing and the judge directed the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation to make him available to speak remotely during another hearing Friday.
The Compton-born Knight pleaded no contest in September 2018 to voluntary manslaughter for killing 55-year-old Terry Carter by running over him with his truck outside a restaurant after an argument near a promotional shoot for the movie “Straight Outta Compton” on Jan. 29, 2015.
Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Ronald Coen sentenced him to 28 years in prison a month after his plea.
The plaintiffs in the civil suit, filed in June 2015, are Carter’s widow, Lillian, and daughters Crystal and Nekaya. The first trial took place in Compton Superior Court, where Long declared a mistrial in June 2022 with jurors deadlocked 7-5 in favor of finding Knight liable.
In court papers filed earlier this month, Kenner asserted there had been a “breakdown” in his relationship with Knight. But in a subsequent filing, attorneys for Carter’s family said it would be unfair to the plaintiffs to allow Kenner to withdraw at this late stage.
— City News Service
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