The widow of a man who died when he was run over by a pickup truck driven by Marion “Suge” Knight has filed a wrongful death lawsuit on 3 June against the former rap music mogul, Dr Dre, Ice Cube and the studio responsible for the forthcoming film Straight Outta Compton. Straight Outta Compton chronicles the rise of the gangster rap group NWA, which included Dr Dre and Ice Cube as members.
Lilian Carter, the widow of Terry Carter, filed the suit in Los Angeles against Knight, Universal Studios, Dr Dre and Ice Cube. The suit alleges Universal was negligent by continuing to film in Compton, California, after Dre warned the production to keep Knight away. Knight, the co-founder of Death Row Records, has quarrelled with Dre for years.
The complaint also alleges that Universal negligently hired Cle “Bone” Sloan, whose fight with Knight led to Carter being run over and killed in January. Sloan, who was seriously injured after being run over by Knight’s truck, was working as an adviser on the film and helped broker deals with gang members so it could shoot in Compton.
TMZ reports that the suit claims some of the gang members incited a fight and threatened Knight, causing him to flee a burger joint parking lot at such speed he ran over and killed Carter.
The complaint states: “This lawsuit concerns the tragic tale of how reckless corporate greed, disguised as the quest for authenticity, (led) to a foreseeable altercation that resulted in the death of a successful businessman.”
Howard King, an attorney for Dr Dre, called the lawsuit “preposterous”.
The Carter family is also suing Tam’s Burgers, in whose parking lot the alleged crime took place. They say so many violent crimes happen in its car park that it should employ security measures.
Knight has pleaded not guilty to a murder charge filed in Carter’s death. Last week, his lawyer argued that the case against him should be dismissed because Sloan, whom he is also accused of running over, did not identify him in court.
Sloan refused to identify Knight at a hearing last month. “There is nowhere in this transcript that Mr Sloan ever identifies Marion Knight, the defendant, as a murderer,” lawyer Matt Fletcher argued. “There is nowhere in the entire transcript that Mr Sloan even identifies Marion Knight as a driver of the red truck in question; the red truck that hit the victims.”
