Suge Knight to Stand Trial, Taken to Hospital

LOS ANGELES (CN) - A judge on Thursday ordered Suge Knight to stand trial on murder and attempted murder charges stemming from allegations that he ran over two men at a Compton fast food restaurant earlier this year.

After the hearing, Knight was taken to the hospital for an unspecified medical emergency, according to reports. Last month, the former rap mogul collapsed at a bail hearing.

Knight, whose real name is Marion Hugh Knight Jr., is accused of killing his friend Terry Carter, 55, and critically injuring film technician Cle Denyale "Bone" Sloan. The incident allegedly occurred after Knight showed up uninvited to a promotional shoot for the upcoming movie "Straight Outta Compton."

Rappers Dr. Dre and Ice Cube were in the area filming a promo for the movie, a fictional biopic about N.W.A. - the rap group that made them famous.

Prosecutors say Knight, 49, ran over the two men with his pickup in the parking lot of Tam's Burgers on Jan. 29, after an altercation with Sloan.

Surveillance video obtained by TMZ purports to show Sloan reaching into the open window of Knight's red pickup truck in the Tam's parking lot. The video depicts the driver of the truck reversing, running over Sloan then plowing into Carter. A man standing nearby then appears to take an object from Sloan.

Sloan told the court earlier this week that the incident left him with fractured ankles and torn ligaments in his knees.

"My head was split open to the skull and I had a chipped bone on my neck," Sloan said, adding that he spent four to five days in hospital and needed 17 stitches to the top of his head.

The former Death Row Records CEO pleaded not guilty to the charges and said he was acting in self-defense.

His attorney Matt Fletcher said Sloan was to blame for Carter's death after he showed up at the restaurant with a group of men. He said that the evidence will show that there were guns at the scene and that his client feared for his life.

Sloan, who has taken minor roles in crime movies "Training Day" and "End of Watch," was granted immunity to testify in court earlier this week. He told the court Monday that he was no "snitch" and had no intention of sending Knight to jail.

"I want to get this behind me," Sloan said. "It's not my legacy. I don't want that smut on me."

On Thursday, Fletcher told the court that Knight had a right to defend himself and urged Judge Ronald Coen to dismiss the case.

"No intent to kill. There's an intent to survive," Fletcher said, adding that Sloan had instigated the attack on his client.

"He is the person who got Terry killed," Fletcher said.

Prosecutor Cynthia Barnes argued that plowing over Sloan and Carter did not qualify as a use of necessary force.

"The moment he backed up and ran over Mr. Sloan, his right ended," Barnes said, noting that Knight could simply have driven away.

"He gunned his vehicle as fast as he could into Mr. Sloan," Barnes said.

Coen said that evidence supports the murder and attempted murder charges but dismissed one of two counts of hit-and-run.

He added that it appeared Knight was not attempting to escape and that there was an "attempt to murder."

The judge scheduled arraignment in the case for April 30. He also reduced bail to $10 million, finding the original $25 million amount excessive.

Outside the Clara Shortridge Foltz criminal courthouse, Fletcher said he would prove at trial that there were guns at the scene.

"Regardless of whether there was a weapon or not, he had a right to defend himself," Fletcher added.

On Monday, Sloan testified that the events of Jan. 29 had roots in a dispute between Knight and the producers.

Dr. Dre, whose real name is Andre Young, had a falling out with Knight in 1996 after the rapper and businessman left the record company he founded with Knight, Death Row Records.

Dre is a credited producer on "Straight Outta Compton."

"I think him and Dre had a problem," Sloan said. "I really don't know the details."

Knight was at the center of a feud between West Coast and East Coast rappers in the mid-1990s. He was driving the car carrying rapper Tupac Shakur when Shakur was killed in a drive-by shooting in Las Vegas on Sept. 7, 1996.

Knight filed for bankruptcy in 2006 and Death Row Records was later sold for $18 million to WIDEawake Entertainment Group.

If convicted, Knight faces life in prison.

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