Why Stage a Fight With Tupac?

by Michael Douglas Carlin

By now we have seen that Reggie Wright Sr., of the Compton Police, is on the MGM Surveillance Tape. He is supervising the interrogation of Orlando Anderson way outside of his jurisdiction. That indicates that the fight was staged but why?

Tupac had already fired his attorney David Kenner and according to Reggie Wright Jr., Security Manager of Death Row Records, he had been fired too. Reggie was playing games with the security that night and Suge told Reggie to knock it off and stop playing games but clearly Reggie's feelings were hurt.

This is pure speculation about the incidents that night. But it is all based upon things we know. There was a file in the Death Row Seizure by police that had Orlando Anderson's name on it. He was being paid for something, that much we know.

Reggie Wright Sr. as captured on the MGM Video

If Tupac was leaving Death Row Records, and we have lots of evidence of that, how does a record label let a cash-cow walk out the door? Truth is they employ all means to keep that cash-cow happy and recording on their label. When we look at Death Row Records tactics we know that Suge Knight used an artist's vulnerability with the law against him when it came to contract time. Snoop Dogg was signed a day after his arrest for murder. Tupac was signed while he was getting his twice daily cavity searches in Dannemora Prison. That contract was prepared September 15, 1995 and signed by Suge Knight and was signed by Tupac Shakur on September 16, 1995. Completion of the three albums called for in that contract were coming to a close and there was at best a renegotiation happening and at worst Tupac leaving the label.

The charade being played on Tupac was the staged fight at the MGM. The evidence is all there. You can see Reggie Wright Jr. on the tape hiding behind a woman from the cameras as he walks by. They were aware of the cameras and knew the fight would be caught on the surveillance tape. Reggie Wright Jr. leaves with Orlando Anderson at the conclusion of his interrogation. But again why stage the fight?

Last Photo of Tupac. Does he look happy? Suge was most likely renegotiating with Tupac as shots rang out.

Suge was known to use leverage to keep his artists in check. He used the legal defense of Snoop against him to keep Snoop generating revenue for Death Row Records. Snoop owed over five million dollars for that defense and was personally receiving very little of the money he earned in order to pay Death Row Records back for that debt.

Beyond the hand-written contract there was little to no leverage on Tupac. They needed to create leverage. The staged Orlando Anderson fight was their attempt to create that leverage.

In Got Your Back, Frank Alexander, Tupac's Bodyguard that night, writes, "When Pac snapped, he wasn't thinking about consequences, he never did with fighting. He just loved to fight and never cared about getting in trouble. All he wanted to do was get it out of his system." Fight night in Vegas would be a perfect opportunity to manipulate Tupac Shakur.

Trevon, who was next to Tupac at the MGM, whispered something into Tupac's ear and he took the bait and began the scuffle. At the time Tupac was out of prison pending an appeal. Getting involved in a scuffle would clearly send him back to prison if the tape made it to the authorities. There were no charges filed at the time and Orlando Anderson was released to go about his business - the people supervising the incident saw to that. The tape was probably collected by someone related to Kenner or Wright that night to use as leverage against Tupac later if he refused to come back to Death Row Records, Kenner, and Wright.

The MGM tape was entered into evidence in Suge's hearings on the probation violation by David Kenner not by the prosecution as is customary. In fact, all of the testimony came from Compton Police... even the statements acquired by Las Vegas Police were entered into evidence by the Compton Police headed up by Reggie Wright Sr. Frank Alexander's statement was of particular interest because what Kenner read to Alexander on the recorded telephone call is far different from the actual statement made by Alexander to Brent Becker. Somehow it was altered from the time Frank made it to the time it was entered into evidence. Alexander is warned to "not get subpoenaed" by Reggie Wright Jr. or it could have serious consequences to him and his family. When they couldn't kill Suge they were all working hard to send him away and he was not aware of his new "pawn" status until many years later.

Alexander again writes, "The fact was, the situations surrounding Tupac kept getting deeper and deeper all the time, and it became more and more apparent we were all in over our heads."

But most likely Suge was aware of the staged Orlando Anderson fight as a ploy to renegotiate with Tupac. Suge rushes Tupac away from the Mike Tyson fight for a reason. The Orlando Anderson incident happens and then they all get to the house of Suge for a reset. Tupac is asked to ride with Suge alone so they can discuss Tupac's future. Tupac is probably told he needs to remain at Death Row Records or that fight he was just caught in on videotape will be used by the authorities to send him back to prison. Suge probably told him that Kenner already had the tape and Tupac could determine his fate by playing along or he could be turned back over to the authorities who all had an axe to grind with Tupac. Look at the last image of Tupac. He doesn't look very happy. He looks like his entire life has been turned upside down.

What Suge and Tupac didn't know that night was that there was another plan at work that had them in the cross-hairs, in the same car, without any bodyguards, and without any guns. Both of them were set to die.

You can read more about this in Chaos Merchants and Tupac:187 - Russell Poole's final words on the murders of Tupac Shakur and Biggie Smalls before his tragic death meeting with Sheriff's about the cases.

Chaos Merchants
http://www.amazon.com/Chaos-Merchants-Murders-Shakur-Notorious-ebook/dp/B01A2VYJTO

Tupac:187
http://www.amazon.com/Tupac-187-Richard-RJ-Bond/dp/0692317848/ref=asap_bc?ie=UTF8

© 2016 Michael Douglas Carlin. All Rights Reserved.

No Reprints allowed unless permission is granted in writing.

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