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September 13, 2005
Judge Freezes 'Suge' Knight's Assets
Associated Press
LOS ANGELES --
A judge has frozen the assets of Marion "Suge" Knight
in a ruling that favors an imprisoned drug dealer,
who wants half of a $107 million court award to his wife.
Monterey County Superior Court Judge Adrienne M. Grover issued the
ruling on Aug. 29, the day after
Knight was shot in the leg at an MTV awards pre-party in Miami Beach,
Fla. He has been released from a
hospital.
In March, a Los Angeles judge ordered Knight and his companies to
pay $107 million to Lydia Harris , who
claimed she helped start Death Row Records and was owed money from
the recording label.
The judge made the decision after finding that Knight and his lawyers
failed to answer questions and provide
information in the case, which never reached trial.
Michael Harris, who is serving a 28-year sentence at San Quentin
State Prison, argues that he's entitled to
half of his wife's award.
Calls to Knight's lawyer, Dermot Givens, and Lydia Harris' lawyer,
Richard Brover, weren't immediately
returned Monday.
Harris has claimed he put up $1.5 million from behind bars in 1991
to help start the record label — a
contention Knight has repeatedly denied.
In June, Harris filed for divorce after learning his wife was in
settlement negotiations with Knight, said his
lawyer, Steven M. Goldberg.
"She was trying to settle separately and cut him off the $107
million award," Goldberg alleged.
Harris sought a divorce to block the alleged settlement, Goldberg
said. The judge's decision to add Knight as
a party to the divorce blocks him from "disposing or transferring
his assets away," the lawyer said.
Knight, whose label dominated the rap world in the 1990s, has had
a series of legal troubles.
In 2003, he was ordered to pay $5.5 million to managers who accused
him of stealing one of their acts.
Knight was released from prison in 2001 after serving time for assault
and weapons violations. He recently
served an additional 10 months for violating his parole by allegedly
striking a Hollywood nightclub valet.
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