Where are the charges for Cle “Bone” Sloan?

By Michael Douglas Carlin

To say the Suge Knight cases have been bungled by the Sheriff’s doesn’t really paint the picture.

They had a responsibility to pursue the shooters in the 1Oak Nightclub shooting. They had 37 video cameras, an off-duty Sheriff whose name has been released as Henry Boyd that allegedly let the shooters in the club and drove them to the airport the next day. But cops don’t investigate cops. They had every opportunity to solve that crime and they were not just derelict in their duty – they were overeager to get Suge Knight instead of the shooters that shot him and the other two victims that night. Allowing shooters to get away with such a public crime sends the signal we all hear that none of our safety matters to the Sheriff's more than protecting one of their own.

At Tam’s they further revealed their agenda. The video shows a gun being picked up off of Cle Bone’s body. Nobody will admit to having guns there because they don’t want to go to prison but Cle “Bone” Sloan commits four felonies before Suge Knight runs over Terry Carter. Assault, battery, attempted car jacking, and attempted kidnapping are all crimes where Suge Knight was the victim and they all occurred before Suge drove over Cle “Bone” Sloan and Terry Carter. By law the commission of a felony that leads to a death in the course of that felony is by definition murder. Cle “Bone” Sloan should have been charged with murder. Instead Suge Knight was charged and Cle was given a deal so that Sheriff’s could finally send Suge Knight to the nethermost parts of the prison system where he can never reveal what he knows about the former Corrupt Compton Police that became Los Angeles County Sheriff’s.

They approached these two cases with an agenda instead of serving the public interests. It shouldn’t matter that Suge Knight has the reputation as a thug in gangster rap that was largely due to music industry hype – hype that isn’t provable in a court of law. Every case should only be brought on merits that stand on their own. Russell Poole knew that this case would crumble under its own weight and he was offering Sheriff’s the opportunity to solve the Tupac and Biggie cases instead.

But we know that cops don’t go after cops. This is probably why the 1Oak case isn’t solved. The lead suspect in both the Biggie and Tupac murders (a former cop) has said he has immunity granted to him by the CIA for putting drugs out on the streets of Compton for the Agency. He has claimed that if he is ever charged he will bring down the entire government of the United States. Can it really be possible that he knows so much? I doubt our CIA would ever be protecting him. The CIA keeps America free. They would never engage petty murderers and drug dealers to kill and deal dope to kids in their name. But one hour after Russell Poole died in a meeting with Sheriff’s that suspect knew all of the intimate details of the meeting and he gloated about Russell’s death and he disparaged Suge Knight. That suspect must be pretty well connected and protected to have all of the salient details an hour after Russell died and not because he is connected as he claims to the Central Intelligence Agency.

But who is really pulling the strings at the Sheriff’s as they aggressively deny Suge Knight a fair trial?

© 2016 Michael Douglas Carlin. All Rights Reserved.

Suge Knight's Bail Hearing Continued in his Murder Case

I sat in Superior Court today and witnessed the Marion "Suge" Knight hearing as it unfolded. There were many journalists there who are unaware of the historic ties into the fabric of Los Angeles that Knight and David Kenner possess. The history of Suge and Kenner is the history of Death Row Records. The history of Death Row Records is the history of Los Angeles. They are all intertwined.

Now Suge Knight is being held in the murder of Terry Carter and attempted murder of Cle "Bone Sloan during an argument that broke out on the Set of "Straight Outta Compton" and continued at a hamburger restaurant parking lot near the set. Suge Night has pleaded "Not Guilty" to the charges.

Sitting in the hall was the beginning of my observations today. Kenner arrived and requested to meet with his client. He was granted entry into the courtroom early and was able to see Marion Suge Knight ahead of time in one of the adjoining conference rooms. We were brought in and seated in the journalist section of the courtroom. There were approximately 20 journalists there to witness and write about the hearing. Deputy District Attorney Cynthia Barnes represented the District Attorney’s Office. While we were waiting for the hearing to begin there was a meeting of Miss Barnes and David Kenner in one of the adjoining conference rooms. This meeting lasted for about 20 minutes. It is unknown what was discussed in this meeting.

There were a number of motions heard and ruled on by the court today. The bail hearing was continued to March 20th. Most of the motions seemed to be procedural but the one that was surprising to me was a motion to allow Mr. Knight's personal physician to visit him. Here the judge ruled against Mr. Knight citing that the County and Sheriff's Department had competent personnel to examine Mr. Knight - the judge denied access by Knight to his personal physician.

By March 20th most of the discovery should be complete and the clear picture of this case should be upon us.

But let's take a look at attorney David Kenner who is a legend in the criminal defense business. Kenner was Tupac Shakur's attorney for over a year. He also represented Snoop Dogg during Snoop's trial for murder. Kenner also represented Michael "Harry-O" Harris, Suge Knight, and Barry Minkow.

Kenner was at the beginning of Death Row Records. He brokered the deal to fund the original investment for the record label from Michael "Harry-O" Harris. He was part of the appeal to musicians with legal problems to sign with Death Row. Kenner represented Suge for his assault of George and Lynwood Stanely. Kenner successfully kept the case from going to trial and he negotiated a plea deal that put Suge on Probation instead of doing time in prison. Kenner was listed originally as Suge's legal counsel on his probation violation in 1996 after the murder of rapper Tupac Shakur. Sometime in 1997 citing health reasons Kenner was removed from the case. Kenner and Suge have been reunited during this current trial.

What can we expect? My take is that this case will never go to trial - especially with David Kenner as Suge Knight's attorney. During today's hearing Miss Barnes stated that she felt the trial would only last 2 weeks. The evidence is pretty cut and dried. The prosecution is asking for 25 years to life in prison, if there was a plea arrangement reached where Suge agreed to 10 years in prison and actually served 5 there would be a deal struck. There is way too much sediment to stir up with so many ties into the history of Los Angeles. Neither side wants to stir up the past.

Michael Douglas Carlin is the author of Tupac:187 about the murders of Tupac Shakur and Christopher Wallace. He is also the director of the movies Luvicide and American Federale. Recently he completed a ten-year stint as the Publisher and Editor of the Century City News. Here his articles turned into three books: Rise a Knight, A Prescription for Peace, and Peaceful Protests. Carlin's family founded lighting and grip company Keylite PSI that supplied equipment on Ordinary People, The Untouchables, Boyz In The Hood, Platoon, JFK, Reservoir Dogs, and hundreds of other feature films and thousands of hours of television. For many years Carlin ran the family business and managed independent studios. He worked also in the entertainment industry as an actor, lighting technician, grip, cameraman, production manager, producer, and director. Carlin also published The Entertainment Funding Sourcebook, The Studio White Pages, and Media and Entertainment Institutional Investors.

Follow Michael Douglas Carlin on Twitter @MichaelDCarlin