Suge Knight caught a break today in court, sort of. Superior Court Judge Ronald Coen ruled Thursday that the former rap mogul will stand trial on murder and attempted-murder charges for the hit-and-run death of Terry Carter and attempted murder of Cle “Bone” Sloan. In January, Knight ran over the two men during what he says was an attempt to escape an ambush. Although Knight says that he accidentally hit the two men, law-enforcement officials said that Knight hit the men on purpose.
Coen did cut Knight a break by reducing his bail from $25 million to $10 million after hearing from witnesses earlier this week. In an interview with TMZ, Knight’s lawyer Matthew Fletcher said that he expects that his client will now be able to make bail and may be released by the end of Thursday.
According to the Los Angeles Times, during a hearing held this week, Cle “Bone” Sloan changed his story about the January incident. Sloan initially stated that he’d attacked Knight, but on Monday he said that he could no longer remember what happened.
“I don’t want it to get misconstrued that I told on this man,” Sloan stated. “I’m no snitch. I will not be used to send Suge Knight to prison.”
Sloan also refused to identify Knight in the courtroom. “Yes, I know Mr. Knight,” Sloan said, “but that does not look like Mr. Knight.”
Many feel that Knight’s gang ties will play a huge role in who will speak out against him. The Los Angeles Police Department cited this week’s courtroom proceedings as an example of how “no snitching” is real when it comes to people who were formerly involved in gangs.