'Suge' Knight appears in court on robbery charges, fires attorney

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A Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputy walks past part of the Tam’s Burgers parking lot, where the hit-and-run occurred. (Bob Chamberlin / Los Angeles Times)

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Marion Suge Knight continues to talk while being led out of Los Angeles County Superior Court on Monday. During the hearing, he described his medical ailments and continued to speak over the judge, drawing a sharp rebuke. (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

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Judge Ronald S. Coen accepts a plea from Marion “Suge” Knight of no contest to voluntary manslaughter in a downtown Los Angeles courtroom.

(Gary Coronado / Los Angeles Times)

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Former rap mogul Marion “Suge” Knight, left, with his defense attorney Albert DeBlanc, listens to the terms of his plea of no contest to voluntary manslaughter Thursday in a downtown Los Angeles courtroom.

(Gary Coronado / Los Angeles Times)

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A Los Angeles County sheriff’s patrol car blocks Central and East Rosecrans avenues in Compton, where a fatal hit-and-run occurred Thursday. (Bob Chamberlin / Los Angeles Times)

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Los Angeles County sheriff’s officials at the site of a hit-and-run in Compton involving music mogul Suge Knight. (Michael Robinson Chavez / Los Angeles Times)

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An officer at the scene of the hit-and-run, a restaurant parking lot. (Michael Robinson Chavez / Los Angeles Times)

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Jose Salgado, 9, watches from Central Avenue as Los Angeles County sheriff’s officials investigate the scene in a Tam’s Burgers parking lot, where two men were struck in a hit-and-run involving music mogul Suge Knight. (Bob Chamberlin / Los Angeles Times)

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A family photo of Terry Carter and his wife Lillian Carter. Terry Carter was killed by Marion “Suge” Knight in 2015

(Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)

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Lt. John Corina of the L.A. County Sheriff’s Department at a news conference Thursday night on the hit-and-run involving music mogul Suge Knight. Investigators are treating it as a homicide. (Michael Robinson Chavez / Los Angeles Times Times)

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Rapper Tupac Shakur, left, and Marion “Suge” Knight attend an Aug. 15, 1996, voter registration event in South Central Los Angeles. (Frank Wiese / Associated Press)

By Veronica Rocha

and Marisa Gerber

April 8, 2015 10:38 AM PT

Rap mogul Marion “Suge” Knight officially fired one of his attorneys Wednesday in court, where he appeared on charges that he and comedian Micah “Katt” Williams stole a photographer’s camera in Beverly Hills.

Knight had previously expressed interest in firing attorney David Kenner, who represents him in the robbery case. Although Kenner filed paperwork citing “irreconcilable conflicts,” Los Angeles Judge Ronald Coen said he wanted to hear it from Knight.

That’s when Knight replied, “Kenner is fired.”

Seated in a stretcher-type chair, Knight was wheeled into the courtroom. At one point, he interrupted a private discussion between the judge and attorneys to ask for a restroom break.

In court, Knight asked to sit in a regular chair, saying that authorities chained him to a chair he had no need for.

“I walk perfectly fine,” he told the judge, who said he was placed in the chair as a precaution because Knight told authorities he was paralyzed.

Outside the courtroom, his other attorney Matthew Fletcher compared Knight’s chair confinement to a scene from the film “Silence of the Lambs.” He said Knight was walking that morning before the hearing.

Knight’s next hearing is May 27, at which time he must have retained a new attorney for the robbery case.

The Death Row Records co-founder, already facing murder charges in a separate case, remains in custody on $25 million bail, which was set at his last hearing in March after Deputy Dist. Atty. Cynthia J. Barnes argued he was a dangerous criminal.

In the Sept. 5, 2014, robbery case, police said Knight and Williams walked out of a studio in Beverly Hills and came across a photographer, whom they chased down an alley. Police said Williams forcibly grabbed the woman’s camera. She suffered minor injuries.

After weeks of investigation, detectives arrested Knight in Las Vegas and Williams at an Inglewood courthouse. Knight was released on bail and returned to Los Angeles.

Months later, Knight again became the subject of an investigation, this time in connection with a slaying.

He is accused of deliberately running over Terry Carter, 55, and Cle “Bone” Sloan, 51, in a restaurant parking lot Jan. 29 after an argument on the set of a commercial about the film “Straight Outta Compton.”

Carter died and Sloan was injured.

According to an affidavit filed by the prosecutor, Knight has been connected in the past to robberies, extortion, money laundering, assaults, witness intimidation and battery.

Knight is charged with murder, attempted murder and two counts of hit-and-run with an allegation he committed a violent felony while out on bail in another case.

Since his arrest in January, Knight’s court appearances have become somewhat of a spectacle.

In February, he was hospitalized twice for medical issues after court appearances.

At last month’s court appearance, Knight was hospitalized again after tensing up during the hearing.

For breaking news in California, follow @VeronicaRochaLA and @marisagerber.