Suge Knight: Prosecutors Accuse Rap Mogul, Lawyer of Witness Bribery

[The Predator]

Suge Knight: Prosecutors Accuse Rap Mogul, Lawyer of Witness Bribery

Knight allegedly attempted to orchestrate false witness testimony ahead of upcoming murder trial



Suge Knight and his attorney Matthew Fletcher are accused of attempting to orchestrate witness bribery ahead of the rap mogul's murder trial, prosecutors revealed Wednesday.



The Los Angeles County district attorney's office based the allegations on a series of prison phone calls between Knight and his lawyer.

According to transcripts released by the prosecution, Knight, Fletcher, Knight's fiancée Toi-Lin Kelly and business partner Mark Blankenship "had an understanding that they were going to assist the defendant in procuring witnesses for his defense, which included payments for fabricated testimony."

In the recorded prison conversations, Fletcher allegedly discussed paying "witnesses" money to supply false testimony for the trial. "I'll pay anything ... if we can get the two or three versions from the bikers on tape," Fletcher said. "It's going home time. Right? That's a fair motherfucking investment, you know, 20, 25 thousand dollars to pay to these motherfuckers to get home."

Speaking to the New York Daily News, Fletcher denied the allegations, instead admitting that the conversation revolved around acquiring a second video from the January 2015 incident where Knight ran over and killed Terry Carter in an attempt to hit Cle "Bone" Sloan outside a promotional shoot for the film Straight Outta Compton.

"We were sending people out to try to find versions of the videotape," Fletcher told the Daily News. "It would be a wonderful investment. TMZ would pay them. Radar would pay them."

Knight's legal team claims that Sloan pointed a gun at the mogul and, in an attempt to escape, Knight accelerated his Ford Raptor and hit Carter. The witness testimony Fletcher allegedly hoped to acquire would have provided further proof of their account of the incident.

"I've never paid anyone, period, end of story," Fletcher told the Daily News about the DA's allegation. "As far as I know, [witnesses] haven't been paid by anyone. I don't believe Suge Knight has the money to pay anyone."

However, upon discovering the prison conversation, prosecutors employed a jailhouse informant to discuss the matter with Knight on a prison bus. The former Death Row CEO told the informant to contact his lawyers, who allegedly offered the informant money to provide false testimony.

"The defendant and Fletcher knew that to secure this testimony, money would have to exchange hands," prosecutors said. "This is the essence of bribery: to influence a witness in exchange for him providing material testimony in a criminal proceeding."

While conversations between Knight and Fletcher would usually be confidential, because Knight contacted his lawyer through a third party – often Kelly or Blankenship, who then conferenced-in Fletcher – the conversations were no longer protected by confidentiality laws.

The prosecution has not filed charged following the bribery accusations, but they did ask for a court inquiry into whether Fletcher's "illegal activities" put him in conflict of representing Knight, the Associated Press report.

Last week, Knight pleaded not guilty to additional charges of threatening Straight Outta Compton director F. Gary Gray.

Suge Knight is trying to buy witnesses to help clear him in murder case: prosecutors

"As far as I know, (witnesses) haven't been paid by anyone," lawye Matt Fletcher (l.) said. "I don't believe Suge Knight (r.) has the money to pay anyone."



Prosecutors are making the blockbuster claim Suge Knight tried to buy witnesses in his murder case — but one of the rap mogul's lawyers denied the theory Thursday.

"I've never paid anyone, period, end of story," lawyer Matt Fletcher told the Daily News.

"As far as I know, (witnesses) haven't been paid by anyone," he said. "I don't believe Suge Knight has the money to pay anyone."

The Los Angeles District Attorney filed paperwork Wednesday claiming they have a recorded jail call in which Knight and Fletcher discussed paying large sums to witnesses who would say Knight was the victim of an armed assault before he hit two men with his Ford Raptor truck outside a Compton burger stand in January 2015, killing local businessman Terry Carter.

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"That's a fair motherf---ing investment, you know, 20, 25 thousand dollars to pay to these motherf---ers to get home?" Fletcher allegedly said during the call on March 16, 2015, according to the DA paperwork obtained by The News.

Fletcher claimed to The News he wasn't referring to witnesses but to members of a biker group who supposedly had cellphone video related to the parking lot confrontation.

"We were sending people out to try to find versions of the videotape," Fletcher told The News.

"It would be a wonderful investment. TMZ would pay them. Radar would pay them," he said, suggesting the five-figure payments would actually come from media outlets.

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"They're taking it out of context," he said of the jail call excerpt included in the DA's filing.

Prosecutors are asking for an "inquiry" into Fletcher, calling it a precautionary measure to sidestep the possibility Knight, 52, might claim in a future appeal that the lawyer acted inappropriately.

They claim Fletcher and Knight also worked together to violate a court order and sell the main surveillance video of the incident, shot by the restaurant's cameras, to TMZ.com.

They say Knight, in a different jail recording, gave the green light to TMZ.com to buy the video for a whopping $55,000.

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"They're accusing me of trying to sell the tape to TMZ. I wasn't even on the case then. I didn't have the videotape," Fletcher told The News.

The lawyer said he planned to ask the court why prosecutors were even allowed to listen to his calls with Knight in the first place.

Prosecutors said in their filing they were given access to certain calls involving Fletcher if Knight first called a third party, and then Fletcher was conferenced in. They said the third party allegedly broke the expectation of attorney-client privilege.

"I find that to be rather disquieting," Fletcher told The News.

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