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 Was Guaranteed Safety For His Meeting in Compton at Tam's

Growing up in Compton wasn't like growing up in any other city in America. The Crips were recruiting and they were aggressive. At Centennial High School there were 16 young men that were attacked because they refused membership into the gang. Many of them came from Piru Street in Compton. They created an affiliation to stand up to the pressures created by the Crips and the Bloods were born.

Because they are severely outnumbered they must adhere to a much more stringent set of rules to survive. They carve the code of conduct into their hearts. When a member of the Piru Set gives their word that someone is guaranteed safety in coming to a peace meeting it must be adhered to or there will be severe consequences. A Piru's word is his bond.

Terry Carter's brother was one of the original 16 members of the Piru. Suge Knight would know that since he grew up in the neighborhood. Carter giving his word that Suge Knight could feel safe in coming down to Compton to settle up with Dr. Dre for monies he was owed for the Apple Beats Deal and his portion of the budget for the movie Straight Outta Compton was something that Suge Knight could take to the bank. He should never have been attacked in a peace meeting as Carter told him this was... but we all know that isn't what happened.

How was Suge Knight owed money? When Eazy-E and Jerry Heller settled their lawsuit with Suge Knight they signed over the name NWA to Knight. That name was used freely in the movie and Suge should have been paid for it. Also, the likeness of Suge Knight appeared in the movie and even Ice Cube said that Suge should be paid. Also, when Dr. Dre left Death Row Records, Suge Knight signed a lifetime management contract with Dr. Dre. That meant that some of the Beats money had a legitimate claim by Suge Knight. Clearly there was some money he could expect to be paid and that was at least the subject of a negotiation.

But we all know Compton is a dangerous place. We also know that Suge Knight survived an attack by two shooters at the 1Oak Nightclub on August 24, 2014. Allegedly an off-duty Sheriff let the shooters into the club that night and the crime scene was allegedly bungled by Richard Biddle, a Sheriff investigator. That is why even though Sheriff's know the identity of the shooters they have never filed charges for attempted murder against them. There were 38 cameras in the club that night. Sheriff's blame Suge Knight being non-cooperative as the reason no charges are filed but video evidence is much more reliable than eye-witness testimony and the Sheriff's have all of the tapes.

In light of Suge's shooting at 1Oak and knowing that Compton is a dangerous place can anyone understand why Suge might be a little jumpy? When I look at the videotape I see an object being put into a waistband. If Suge Knight thought that was a gun it is enough justification to support his actions that night.

Clearly this was a homicide as Terry Carter died. The question becomes was this a justifiable homicide?

The Sheriff's made it clear to Russell Poole that they were going to try to throw the book at Suge Knight because they finally could send him away forever but the facts of this case don't justify their actions especially since they have failed to successfully prosecute his shooters at 1Oak and Richard Biddle was the investigator at Tam's (a conflict of interest that Russell would point out). Suge may have a cause of action against Sheriff's in civil court and he clearly has a cause of action against the City of Los Angeles for the LAPD's leak of the Tupac confession letter because Suge Knight was a victim of that crime too. Why else would there be so much publicity recently naming Suge Knight as the murderer of Biggie Smalls?

That is quite a stretch since Suge Knight was in LA County Jail at the time Biggie Smalls was murdered at Fairfax and Wilshire. Russell had previously blamed Suge for Tupac's murder because of a document leaked by LA County Sheriff's in 1998 blaming Suge Knight for the murder of Tupac. Russell felt bad once he knew Suge had nothing to do with it. He also believed it would be very difficult to prove that Suge had anything to do with Biggie's murder. They put listening devices in Suge's cell in prison. They searched his cell and always came up empty. Russell knew off-duty LAPD had carried out Biggie's murder using a shooter they could cut loose. He also knew Compton Police were there too. He was meeting with Sheriff's on August 19, 2015. He was trying to convince Sheriff's that their case against Suge Knight was crumbling and to reopen the cases of Tupac and Biggie's murders that he felt could now be solved. He brought proof that Compton Police were involved in those murders with him to the meeting that day as well as the information that an off-duty Sheriff participated in the attempted murder of Suge Knight. As we know Russell died in that meeting.

Suge Knight was the head of a gangster rap label. He was tough as nails and ran the company with an iron fist. He was in over his head as was Tupac. He was set-up to be murdered along with Tupac 20 years ago and his company was taken from him. You can trace his troubles from today straight back to that Las Vegas night of September 7, 1996. He was in Compton on a mission of peace to settle finances with Dr. Dre as Terry Carter promised him and he had a Piru word from the code that is written in every Piru's heart that he was safe. He never should have been attacked that night. Any reasonable person would have fled as he did even if it meant driving over someone to escape.

In the words of an eye-witness, "This is Compton man!!!"

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