'Suge' Knight's Ex-Lawyers Arrested In Los Angeles For Accessory Charges
It looks like Marion "Suge" Knight won't be the only one that will be behind bars, his team may go down with him, too.
According to TMZ, two of Knight's former attorneys are currently in prison for allegedly trying to bribe witnesses in his still-pending murder trial.
On Friday, Matthew Fletcher and Thaddeus Culpepper were taken into custody five months after they were accused of persuading witnesses to help Knight plead non-guilty in his trial.
Lawyers Buying Client's Freedom
In January 2015, Knight was involved in a hit-and-run incident that left his friend Terry Carter, co-founder of Heavyweight Records, dead, and filmmaker Cle Sloan hospitalized in Compton, California.
Witnesses claimed that the rap mogul followed the men after an argument on the Straight Outta Compton film set to a burger stand parking lot and the collision seemed intentional. However, Knight's attorney believed that the hit helped his client's self-defense claims.
Fletcher reportedly tried to pay witnesses who were at the burger joint to say they saw victims and others with a gun. In 2015, a series of alleged phone calls between Fletcher, Knight's fiancée, and his business partner suggest that the trio were considering fabricating the testimony.
In one phone call, Fletcher stated that he would pay any amount of money to the bikers that were present at the scene.
"If we can get the two or three versions from the bikers on tape and we can get ... we're done," Fletcher said.
Fletcher could also be heard mentioning that $20,000 or $25,000 would be a fair investment. Fletcher immediately denied the claims and stated that he was suggesting that the bikers' cell phones be used to Knight's defense.
Fletcher also allegedly leaked a sealed surveillance video of Knight's truck running over the two men. Although Fletcher denied the accusations, the video appeared on TMZ the day after he decided to take on Knight as a client.
Culpepper also allegedly tried to pay an informant to say he was present during the incident and would testify in Knight's favor.
Both Fletcher and Culpepper are currently being held on $1 million bail.
Knight's murder trial, which was originally set to begin on Jan. 8, has been pushed back until later this year. The Death Row Records CEO has gone through several lawyers including Fletcher and Culpepper, former prosecutor Stephen L. Schwartz, and Thomas Mesereau, the current attorney of screen icon Bill Cosy who is facing trial for sexual allegations.
