A key witness, whom Marion “Suge” Knight allegedly ran over in a hit-and-run incident that left one man dead and another injured, has refused to “snitch” on the music mogul during a preliminary hearing on Monday.
Cle “Bone” Sloan testified about the day that he and a friend, Terry Carter, were hit by a pickup truck driven by Knight, the co-founder of Death Row Records, following a quarrel. Sloan, however, refused to identify Knight as the man behind the wheel when he was struck at a burger stand in the Los Angeles suburb of Compton on 29 January. He said he didn’t remember the specifics of the fight and does not want to be a “snitch”.
“I will not be used to send Suge Knight to prison,” Sloan, an adviser on the forthcoming film Straight Outta Compton, said.
Sloan’s testimony was offered during the hearing in which a judge will determine whether there’s enough evidence for Knight to stand trial on murder, attempted murder and two hit-and-run charges. Knight’s attorney Matthew Fletcher contended that his client had hit Sloan and Carter but said Knight was ambushed and was trying to escape an attack when he hit the men.
Superior court judge Ronald Coen recessed the hearing and said it would resume on Thursday morning, when he will rule on whether the case should go to trial.
Sloan suffered two fractured ankles, a serious cut to the head, two torn ligaments in his knees and a shoulder injury. “Every day, I try to forget it,” Sloan said. “I just know, I screwed up, and Terry’s dead.”
Sloan’s faltering memory prompted Coen to comment at one point during his testimony: “I find that this witness is being deceptive.”
Sloan gave a clear account of the events that led to his injuries in a recorded interview with police on 29 January, which was played back in court. He recalled details and told detectives how he had attacked Knight twice in the burger stand parking lot and had punched him. He said that Knight told him he was going to kill him and Sloan responded: “Not today.”
Sloan told detectives he wanted justice and would testify, but that he didn’t want to “be the guy who says [Knight] killed Terry,” according to the recorded interview.
Coen also watched several minutes of surveillance video from outside the burger stand, including the moments when Knight’s truck ran over Sloan and Carter. When questioned by Knight’s attorney, Sloan admitted that he had attacked Knight, who hadn’t been violent towards him.
The former gang-member-turned-film-consultant planned to invoke his fifth amendment right against self-incrimination during part of his testimony, but a prosecutor granted him limited immunity. Afterwards, Sloan said he still did not remember what occurred before his confrontation with Knight.
Knight faces up to life in prison if convicted of killing Carter. He is being held on $25m bail, an amount Fletcher has argued is excessive.
