By Chris Richburg
The legal ups and downs continue to manifest for Marion "Suge" Knight as arguments were heard Wednesday (Jan. 2) in court over a legal motion that threatens to overturn a $130 million default ruling against the Death Row Records executive.
As a result of the motion, Los Angeles attorney Dermot Givens is seeking to have the $130 million judgment set aside because of what he calls new evidence of fraud perpetrated by alleged Death Row founder Lydia Harris and her husband, incarcerated crack dealer Michael "Harry-O" Harris.
According to The Los Angeles Times, the motion claims the couple concealed from the court the fact that Lydia Harris had filed for bankruptcy five years before suing Knight in 2002, over claims that she and Knight had started Death Row Records together and that Knight had cheated her out of millions of dollars of the rap label's profits.
Contrary to Lydia Harris’ claims, Knight’s attorneys discovered a 1998 bankruptcy she filed which did not list Death Row Records as an asset, according to the motion, which also stated that Harris did not notify the trustee of her bankrupt estate that she had filed a lawsuit against Knight asserting an ownership stake in Death Row Records.
The Harrises later filed for divorce soon after being awarded the $130 million default judgment against Knight because the mogul’s attorneys violated court rules that required them to answer questions and provide information to opposing counsel during the discovery process.
Court records show that the couple testified in their divorce proceedings that Michael Harris was the real party of interest in Lydia's suit against Knight. News of the motion comes as investigators in Las Vegas seek new clues in the 1996 murder of rapper Tupac Shakur.