News of February 28, 1997
Nine Years in Prison for Suge Knight
"I don't trust you": Because of the MGM Grand brawl, a judge sent Death Row founder Suge Knight to prison for nine years on February 28, 1997.
Following a daylong hearing, Judge J. Stephen Czuleger in Los Angeles sentenced Suge Knight to nine years in prison on February 28, 1997. The basis was the revocation of probation he had received for an assault in 1992: the judge was convinced he had participated in the brawl at the MGM Grand on September 7, 1996. With customary credit for good behavior, that meant about four and a half years; Knight had already served around one year.
A Speech That Did Not Help
Knight spoke for fifteen minutes, listed his good deeds and promised never to release an album with the N-word again. Supporters from the community praised him. Czuleger nevertheless saw an “element of danger” and said: “I don’t trust you. I wish I could.”
Earlier, Knight’s lawyers had attempted to overturn the revocation. They relied on a police affidavit from September 25, 1996, which showed that investigators had focused on Orlando Anderson just days after the shooting. With Knight in prison, the future of Death Row Records was in doubt, because under California law an inmate cannot run a business.