Former rap mogul collapses in court after bail hearing

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AP Los Angeles
Last Updated : Mar 21 2015 | 1:22 AM IST
Former rap music mogul Marion "Suge" Knight collapsed in a courtroom today shortly after a judge ordered him held on USD 25 million bail in a murder case.
Bailiffs cleared the courtroom and paramedics were seen going inside a few minutes later.
Defense attorney Matthew Fletcher said Knight was unconscious when the lawyer left the courtroom and an update on his condition was not immediately available.
Fletcher said his client, who is diabetic and has a blood clot, previously told him that he hadn't received any medication since yesterday.
Fletcher said Knight hit his head on a chair when he fell after the bail hearing.
Knight collapsed while deputies were bringing him back into the courtroom after Fletcher asked a judge to order that Knight be given his medication.
The attorney said Knight was being kept in solitary confinement without proper access to medication.
"He's being treated worse than Charles Manson," Fletcher said.
The collapse marked the fourth time that Knight has been taken by ambulance from a courthouse since he was charged with killing Terry Carter, 55, in early February.
Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Ronald S Coen set bail on Friday at USD 25 million for Knight, who is accused of running down and killing Carter with his truck.
Coen made his decision after Deputy District Attorney Cynthia Barnes noted that Knight was on bail in a robbery case when he struck Carter and another man in a parking lot in Compton.
"He escalated his behavior and committed murder," Barnes told the judge.
Fletcher argued that Knight's bail should be set at USD 2 million, but Coen said the higher amount was warranted.
The attorney said before the hearing that his client likely could not post bail if it was set at USD 25 million.
Knight, the 49-year-old co-founder of Death Row Records, has pleaded not guilty to murder, attempted murder and hit-and-run charges.
Barnes filed a motion yesterday accusing Knight of being part of a scheme that has extorted more than USD 10 million from up-and-coming and established rappers in recent years.
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First Published: Mar 21 2015 | 1:22 AM IST

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