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Suge Knight And Death Row Ordered To Pay $10 Million
12/13/2000 3:00 PM, Yahoo! Music
Craig Rosen
(12/13/00, 3 p.m. ET) - Suge Knight and Death Row Records have been ordered to pay Lamont and Ken Brumfield $10 million in punitive damages for interfering in their contractual relationships with rapper Kurupt. Last week, the same jury awarded the Brumfield brothers $4.34 million in compensatory damages.
The awarded damages are the result of Kurupt's entering into contractual agreements with Death Row Records and Knight's publishing company in 1993, even though he was already under contract to the Brumfields for the same services. Kurupt signed to Lamont Brumfield's Rapp Central Productions and Ken Brumfield's Hoodsta-4-Life Publishing in 1990. Knight has denied any knowledge of the contractual arrangements between Kurupt and the Brumfields, although Brumfield attorney John Smith testified that he attempted to meet with Knight on several occasions to discuss the matter, without success. Kurupt was dropped from liability in the case when he filed for bankruptcy in 1996, thus terminating all his contractual obligations.
Death Row plans to file an appeal, according to its lawyer, David Kenner, who called the verdicts inappropriate. The label released an official statement about the case that read, in part, "Death Row is extremely disappointed that the jury chose a grossly excessive amount that is clearly not related to the facts of the case. Death Row also feels that the publicity surrounding Suge Knight and Death Row Records, both being from the street, adversely affected the jury's decision. Death Row feels if the jury knew that Ken Brumfield was a documented drug dealer and working with his brother as government informants, attempting to set up other individuals from their neighborhood, the outcome would have been vastly different." Ken Brumfield is currently serving 20 years in prison for a drug-related offense.
-- Yves Salomon, New York
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