Suge Knight to Invoke 'Stand Your Ground' Defense at Murder Trial

Marion Knight, the former chief executive of Death Row Records, who is better known as Suge Knight, is currently in jail and charged with murder, plans to invoke the state's "stand your ground" statute in his defense.

Suge Knight was legally justified in pointing his truck at Terry Carter, running him over and killing him ... so claims Suge's lawyer. Attorney Matt Fletcher tells TMZ ... he'll present a George Zimmerman-type defense in Suge's murder trial, claiming his client had a legal right to stand his ground and ultimately do in Mr. Carter. Fletcher points to a California jury instruction which says, "[Suge] is entitled to stand his ground and defend himself if reasonably necessary, to pursue an assailant until the danger of death or bodily injury has passed." Suge claims Carter was in cahoots with Cle "Bone" Sloan in attacking him as he drove his truck into the Tam's parking lot. Suge says he heard Carter say something to the effect of, "Should I shoot him?" Suge believed Bone and Carter were both known gang members who would make good on the threat. Fletcher believes Carter's alleged threat is enough to justify Suge intentionally running him over. The lawyer adds, Suge hit Carter accidentally in an effort to escape, but he had the right to kill.

source: TMZ

Prosecutors have charged Suge with murder and attempted murder for allegedly striking two men with his vehicle at Tam's Burgers in Compton on Jan. 29. Terry Carter, 55, died, and Cle "Bone" Sloan, 51, was injured in the incident. He has pleaded not guilty. Yesterday, surveillance footage from outside the restaurant shows Suge running over two men with his pickup truck and one of the men getting knocked down as the pickup reverses. The truck then speeds forward, running over the fallen man and a second man. Surge's attorney said the video also shows a man with a gun. Toward the end of the footage, someone is seeing taking a black object away from Bone while he’s on the ground, but the image is grainy. Surge's attorney said his client was attacked by both Terry and Bone while sitting in his truck at the eatery. An attorney representing Terry's family, say this never happened. The confrontation began when the three men began arguing on the set of "Straight Outta Compton," a biopic about the rap group N.W.A. Suge was kicked off the set and was leaving the area when someone called him and asked him to go to Tam’s Burgers, where the deadly confrontation unfolded, Suge's attorney said. Suge was taken to a jail infirmary last week after saying in court that he couldn't "really comprehend" what was happening. Ahem, OK. Here's the surveillance footage.