Former rap mogul Marion “Suge” Knight will have time to hire a new attorney in the robbery case pending against him, a Los Angeles judge ruled on Wednesday, after Knight formally fired the attorney he first dismissed in March.
The 49-year-old is the founder of Death Row Records, a label that helped establish the gangsta rap canon in the 1990s, with artists such as Dr Dre, Snoop Doggy Dogg and Tupac. Knight’s appearance on Wednesday is part of a pending robbery case, in which Knight is accused of running down a celebrity photographer in September 2014 and taking her camera.
Knight is charged with murder in a separate case, after he allegedly used a pickup truck to hit two men on 29 January. One man, Terry Carter, 55, was killed, and another, Cle “Bone” Sloan, 51, was injured. The hit-and-run happened after an argument at a burger stand on the set of the movie Straight Outta Compton.
Reuters reported that Knight gave no reason on for firing his attorney in an appearance at Los Angeles superior court before Judge Ronald Coen.
“Is Kenner fired?” Coen asked.
“Kenner is fired,” Knight said.
Kenner, who has a long history of working with Knight, was not present during the court hearing, according to Reuters.
Knight first fired Kenner in March before Judge James Brandlin during murder proceedings, according to the Hollywood Reporter. Knight’s case was then transferred to Coen, who accepted paperwork to for Kenner’s firing, Knight citing “irreconcilable conflicts”, according to the LA Times.
Knight also complained about being chained in a wheelchair during his appearance on Wednesday, a measure his new attorney, Matt Fletcher, characterized as “getting to the point of abject humiliation”.
He was placed in the wheelchair after claiming he was suffered paralysis on one side of his body, Reuters reported. Knight has been taken from the courtroom for medical conditions on four previous occasions since he was charged with murder in February, the Associated Press reported.
Knight has until 27 May to find a new attorney to represent him in robbery proceedings, wires said.
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