Jun 9, 2022

COMPTON, CA – Suge Knight is currently serving a 28-year prison sentence after he was charged with the murder of Terry Carter on January 29, 2015. The case never went to trial after Knight accepted a plea deal and was convicted of voluntary manslaughter in September 2018, but he’s still facing a wrongful death lawsuit from Carter’s family.

Dr. Dre previously denied the allegation when it was made in a civil court cross-complaint in 2016, with Dre’s lawyer stating at the time, “Given that Dre has had zero interaction with Suge since leaving Death Row Records in 1996, we hope that Suge’s lawyer has lots of malicious prosecution insurance.”

But on Wednesday, Suge Knight denied his involvement with the lawyer who filed the cross-complaint. He claimed police told him about an alleged murder-for-hire contract from Dre, but he didn’t believe the allegation. Shortly before Carter’s death, Knight said he ended up at the Straight Outta Compton office when someone told him to “come through” to discuss a “situation” with Dre.

“I was told about that,” Knight said about the alleged contract. “People showed me checks, cancelled checks. Dr. Dre — we’ve been really good friends for years. Matter of fact, I know his kids, he knows my kids. And I was told that he had paid some guys to harm me. I didn’t believe it because authorities do lie. But the streets don’t, along with confidential informants.

“So I went up there … I was going to talk to him and say, ‘Hey man, I’m not going to react to what authorities say about you having something to do with me getting shot. I just want to make you aware they are saying this, putting it out there.’”

Knight testified he was at the office to inform Dre about what police were telling him, rather than raising issues about being portrayed as a “bodyguard” in Straight Outta Compton or to demand money for using his name and likeness, but it may have come up.

He claimed he heard Dr. Dre and Ice Cube were too “busy” for a meeting, but he wasn’t concerned due to having plans with his 5-year-old son. But when he was leaving the area, he was then told, “Hey, Cube wants you to come (back) because we’ve been trying to catch you to take care of you.”

Suge Knight claimed things took a turn when he asked about Dre and said he didn’t want to wait around all day. He said g--- member Cle “Bone” Sloan, who was working security for Straight Outta Compton, was offended by a joke and became “aggressive.”

Knight then brought up someone trying to put something on his windshield, which caused his lawyer to ask, “Were you ever served with a restraining order that Dr. Dre allegedly had on you?” Knight responded, “No, never.”

Carter’s wife and daughter filed the wrongful death lawsuit in June 2015 and are seeking more than $10 million in damages. The case is expected to last into next week before going to the jury.