Former rap label boss accused of domestic violence attack on girlfriend

Suge Knight, former head of the bankrupt Death Row Records, faces charges of assault with a deadly weapon, possession of controlled substances and domestic violence after allegedly attacking his lady. Vegas cops arrested Knight after his girlfriend of three years said he punched her in the back of the head while he was driving early Wednesday. The alleged victim says she grabbed the steering wheel to draw attention to the car, in hopes that she’d receive help. The car jumped a curb and Knight allegedly chased her when she ran; police reportedly arrived just as he caught the woman. Cops say they witnessed Knight kicking the alleged victim and carrying a knife. With his prior record, if convicted, Knight seems a likely candidate to become the next rap industry figure to disappear for a while.

Sale of gangsta rap label is held up in legal

The recent purchase of Death Row Records has been canceled after a lawsuit by former CEO Suge Knight’s estate and the label’s trustees was filed. Global Music Group failed to consummate the purchase by July 23 or by an extension until July 29, according to the action. The suit states that “since July 29, GMG (Global Music Group) has continued to fail to forward the purchase money, instead making a number of requests for extension, none of which has been granted by the Trustees.” The deal was called off with a termination letter earlier this month. Trustees are asking the court to let them negotiate with new potential buyers for the sale of the bankrupt company that made superstars of Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg and Tupac in the 1990s.

Diddy’s protégée denies rumors of engagement to her boss.
Singer Cassie apparently couldn’t wait to ruin the fun of gossipers and Web sites: She has come forth denying widespread rumors of a forthcoming wedding to her boss and record label’s founder Sean “Diddy” Combs. Cassie recently blogged on the Web that engagement rumors about her are “completedly false.” “I have no clue how it came to be or why it got so big, but it’s not true, real talk,” she adds. “I am not engaged. Whether or not you’ve heard about it, thank you for your time.”

TMZ catches former Death Row exec haunting Hollywood
Former Death Row Records CEO Suge Knight has made a rare appearance in high-profile Hollywood since he was knocked unconscious by an L.A. barber after a beef. Knight, who was once one of the most feared and successful execs in the rap industry, showed up this past weekend at the Ivy, one of suburban Cali’s top nightspots. Suge even stayed for over an hour after the Ivy shut down, according to TMZ.com. No comment from the ex-bodyguard and ex-con about how a single punch from a man half his size leveled his 300-pound frame.

Like the recent N.Y. case, Edith Rodriguez was ignored as she yelled in pain on the floor
Prosecutors in Los Angeles will not lodge criminal charges against workers at a predominantly Black hospital where a woman died screaming in pain as staff ignored her, The Associated Press reported. City officials said in a report released Tuesday that there was too little evidence to charge a nurse and other staff at the former Martin Luther King, Jr.-Drew Medical Center in the death of Edith Isabel Rodriguez, a 43-year-old mother of three, according to AP. Rodriguez died of a ruptured bowel on May 9, 2007. Los Angeles Police took her to the emergency room after finding her yelling for help in front of the hospital. She had been released from the emergency room just three hours before, given a prescription and told to see a doctor. Upon her return visit, a nurse told her, “…[T]here’s nothing we can do.” Rodriguez fell on the floor and writhed in pain for 45 minutes as hospital workers toiled at their desks and patients looked on. The case is eerily similar to a June 19 case at the Kings County Hospital in Brooklyn, where 49-year-old Esmin Green died after falling to the floor and remaining there for about an hour as staff ignored her. In that case, Green’s family filed a $25 million lawsuit this week.

Famed death-row inmate wants another trial

Mumia Abu-Jamal, the journalist and former Black Panther member who is in prison for killing a Philadelphia police officer 27 years ago, is asking for a new trial. His attorneys argue that the federal appeals court that denied him a new trial in the killing of Officer Daniel Faulkner should have pondered the question of whether prosecutors deliberately denied Blacks the right to serve on the jury, which violates a later Supreme Court ruling. Robert R. Bryan, who represents Abu-Jamal, and Widener University law Professor Judith Ritter, asked the three-judge panel and the full Third Circuit court to review the case again. Convicted in 1982, the 54-year-old Abu-Jamal gained legendary status while on Pennsylvania’s death row. He is the author of several books, and his taped commentaries are aired on radio shows nationwide. He has maintained his innocence from the beginning.

Affirmative action haters want the program banned
Despite recent failures to get anti-affirmative action measures on ballots in Missouri and Oklahoma, supporters of such initiatives say they’ll reap success in Nebraska and Arizona this time around. They contend that they’ve gathered the necessary signatures, unlike in Missouri and Oklahoma. But opponents of efforts to ban affirmative action aren’t sitting still while the program they say is a needed to ensure equal opportunity for qualified minorities is held back by race. They are going after Arizona signature-gatherers in a lawsuit, alleging that they are using deceptive means to trick supporters of affirmative action into signing their petitions. They point to the name of the anti-affirmative action measure as an example – the American Civil Rights Initiative. Petitioners traditionally tell unsuspecting individuals that they are trying to ensure equal opportunity in hiring, knowing full well that potential signers will be duped into believing that they helping ensure the survival of affirmative action, critics contend. “There’s a significant difference between submitted signatures and valid signatures,” David Kramer, head of Nebraskans United, which opposes the measure, told The Associated Press. “We’ll wait to see the outcome of that process before litigation.” If the anti-affirmative action forces are successful, a constitutional amendment would make it illegal for public entities to give preferential treatment on the basis of race, sex, color, ethnicity or national origin.