Judge denies rap mogul Suge Knight murder-trial witness info

SUGE KNIGHT - Before They Were Famous

Suge Knight got emotional and lost his cool in court Friday saying he"s worried he"s going to die in jail.

The breakdown came as the judge on his murder case ruled he can"t get addresses for several key prosecution witnesses and will have to wait until a week before trial to get the names of three more confidential witnesses.

The delay was granted after prosecutors raised concerns he might try to intimidate the witnesses.

"My time is ticking some days because of the health problems I have, and right now I"m not getting a fair chance to prove my innocence," Knight told Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Ronald Coen.

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The co-founder of Death Row Records, 51, claimed he hasn"t been able to pay his lawyers, investigators or experts because he can"t call anyone other than his lawyers and can"t get visits from people outside his defense team, his parents and his four young children.

"If I don"t have the right to discuss my business or my own finances to take care of my own children, how do I have a right to defend myself? Because if I have no communication with the world, I cannot hire the right people," he said. "They"ve worked so far but they"re not getting paid."

He said it was "important" for Coen to listen to him because he feels he has "no one else to talk to."

"I hate to have to go through all this and die in jail," he told the judge.

Suge Knight seeks court approval to visit with sick mother

After his impassioned speech, Knight snapped at his lawyers in open court and could be heard raising his voice while waiting in a holding area during a break.

"I think all of this is just starting to take a toll on him both emotionally and physically. Obviously he"s been incarcerated over a year. He"s not getting the proper medical attention. And what you saw today was just a product of that," defense lawyer J. Tooson told the Daily News after the hearing.

In a filing opposing the defense team"s right to unredacted discovery, prosecutors argued that Knight is a dangerous criminal with gang ties who extorts a safety "tax" from rappers and once ordered a bodyguard to punch a woman.

In court, prosecutor Cynthia Barnes said she was worried that if Knight learns the identities of three confidential civilian witnesses in the case, he might go after them.

Suge Knight will be allowed to see sick mom after judge"s ruling

"The problem is, in county jail these reports get distributed and they have names in them. So if we give the defendant a report that has the name of a witness and he"s passing it around the county jail it puts that person"s name on blast to other gang members and other individuals that that person is a snitch and a potential witness," Barnes argued. "That creates more of a concern for the safety of that individual."

Knight"s fiancee Toi-Lin Kelly scoffed at the argument outside court.

She noted prosecution witness Cle "Bone" Sloan testified under an immunity deal at a preliminary hearing - and apparently hasn"t been targeted.

"Bone already testified and he"s fine, right? There are no reports of him being threatened or even contacted," she said after the hearing.

Sloan, a former gang member, was caught on tape fighting with Knight in the parking lot of a Compton burger stand in January 2015 before Knight hit the gas on his truck and ran over both Sloan and local businessman Terry Carter killing Carter.

Knight"s attempted murder charge relates to Sloan. When Sloan testified at the preliminary hearing he insisted over and over that he wasn"t a "snitch."

The protective order now governing Knight"s jail stay was filed by authorities under seal, so it"s not clear what alleged evidence they offered to justify the strict curtailments on Knight"s access to phone calls and visitors.

When he spoke to the judge Friday, Knight said he"s in bad health with blood clots in his arm and neck that landed him in the hospital.

"The doctor confirmed the blood clot in his neck was the size of a golf ball," Kelly said after the hearing.

Arguing for Knight"s right to unredacted discovery, his lawyers claimed that prosecutors gave up their right to withhold witness information when they allegedly shared case paperwork with a man believed to be a jailhouse informant.

Tooson and his co-counsel Antoine Williams said in court that a defense investigator interviewed alleged informant Daniel Timms and believed Timms was able to review unredacted copies of Knight"s case information.

They said the District Attorney failed to publicly refute Timms" claims after they surfaced in court filings last April and argued that if Timms is telling the truth, prosecutors forfeited their right to redact their discovery when they shared discovery with a convicted criminal.

Barnes blasted the suggestion prosecutors were working with Timms.

"Daniel Timms is a liar and a joke," Barnes told Judge Coen. "He"s not a jailhouse informant. They"re completely misinformed."

Knight, 51, has pleaded not guilty in the case, claiming he was the victim of an armed ambush and feared for his life when he mowed down Sloan and Carter.

The former music mogul fled the scene but later agreed to meet with police to tell his side of the story. He was arrested, charged and hasn"t been able to post his staggering $10.5 million bail.

His time behind bars has been marked by a series of medical woes including an emergency appendix surgery in March.

Tooson said Knight is on medication for his blood clots and diabetes and was rushed to a hospital by ambulance last week because jail personnel allegedly underestimated the seriousness of his condition.

"I don"t want you to die," Judge Coen told Knight in court Friday.

The judge said he would be happy to sign any medical orders brought to his attention by Knight"s lawyers.

Kelly said she"s still worried.

"His attorneys are successful attorneys with business to attend to and he can"t always get them on the phone," she said. "And what if he"s too ill to make that phone call?"

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Source: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/crime/judge-denies-rap-mogul-suge-knight-murder-trial-witness-info-article-1.2722024