A California appeals court ruled in favor of Dr. Dre, Ice Cube and NBCUniversal in a lawsuit filed by the family of Terry Carter, who was killed near the set of the N.W.A. biopic “Straight Outta Compton” in 2015.
Carter was hit by a truck driven by Suge Knight after the former record executive had an argument with Cle “Bone” Sloan, who was hired as a technical advisor to assist with security on the set.
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As it’s been well-documented, Dre and Knight have been at odds since the producer left Death Row Records in the ‘90s.
For some reason, Knight came to the “Straight Outta Compton” set but was told to leave by Sloan, which escalated things. Carter’s family believes Dre and Cube were negligent because based on Knight’s past, they should’ve done a better job of keeping Knight off the set.
After the initial confrontation, Knight and Sloan agreed to meet in a nearby ffast-food parking lot to squash their beef, and Carter was there to mediate. Reportedly, Carter was a known businessman in the community and was respected by both parties.
However, the meeting turned into another argument, and that’s when Knight struck Carter with his vehicle in an attempt to hit Sloan. Knight is now in custody facing murder and attempted murder charges.
This latest ruling comes after Carter’s family amended their initial complaint twice since at first, they failed to properly explain why Dre, Cube and NBCUniversal were negligent and caused the wrongful death of their loved one.
But according to the appeals judge, the defendants couldn’t have known the second meeting between Knight and Sloan would’ve turned violent because their first encounter didn’t.
“It still is not enough to permit a judgment that it would be foreseeable that a third party like Knight would harm a mediator at a meeting — particularly one [like Carter] who was, as plaintiffs allege, ‘well-respected’ by the third party,” said judge Brian Currey.
“Indeed, on the facts alleged in the operative complaint, there is a good reason to conclude any alleged confrontation between Sloan and Knight at Tam’s Burgers with Carter present would be non-violent.”
“The earlier interaction between Sloan and Knight at base camp was, by plaintiffs’ own admission, non- violent, and plaintiffs make no allegation that Knight or Sloan made any threats of future harm or violence during their base camp exchange of words — nor that defendants ever directed Sloan to confront Knight in a violent manner,” he added.
Dre, Cube, nor NBCUniversal have not commented on the ruling yet.
