Credit: Alamy

Suge Knight is currently serving a 28-year sentence after pleading no contest to voluntary manslaughter following a fatal hit-and-run in 2015. The Death Row co-founder filed a bid to overturn his sentence in March 2023, which has now been denied.

Los Angeles County Judge Laura F Priver rejected Knight’s request in a new ruling on March 4th, stating he didn’t have the grounds to support his petition and took too long to file it. “It is clear that the petitioner was not as isolated or as helpless to act as he wishes this court to believe,” Judge Priver wrote. “He was able to file the writ in a timely manner had he chosen to do so.”

Terry Carter died as a result of the incident at Tam’s Burgers in Compton, California, in 2015. Knight was charged with murder after allegedly mowing down Carter in his Ford Raptor truck. Prosecutors claimed he was angry due to being turned away from a meeting.

The meeting was meant to be with Dr Dre and Ice Cube over the Straight Outta Compton movie, with prosecutors alleging he was seeking compensation for being portrayed in the film. However, Knight claimed he was being ambushed and only put his foot down because he feared for his life.

Reacting to the decision, Knight’s lawyer, David Kenner, told Rolling Stone, “I find this decision to be shocking and unconscionable. I think the court has grossly erred in the decision it rendered. I think it is legally improper and the court did not follow the law.”

Kenner plans to file an immediate writ of mandate, claiming Knight was entitled to an evidentiary hearing before making any decision.

“She’s deciding herself that she believes the [district attorney] and disbelieves Mr Knight,” he said. “It’s a deprivation of every consitutional right he has, and that frankly is nothing new in his case. This case is the worst abuse of prosecutorial and judicial interference with the rights of the accused I’ve ever seen. He had less rights to be in contact with the lawyer of his choice than the people in Guantanamo Bay.”

Knight is currently behind bars at RJ Donovan Correctional Facility in San Diego, California and isn’t eligible for parole until October 2034.