Suge Knight ordered to pay $152m to California woman

Rap impresario Marion "Suge" Knight has been ordered to pay US$107 ($152.68) million to a woman who claimed she helped found his ground-breaking music label, Death Row Records, but was pushed out after Knight realized how valuable the label was.

A Los Angeles judge ordered Knight to pay Lydia Harris $47 million in economic and noneconomic damages and $60 million in punitive damages, according to a March 9 minute order.

Superior Court Judge Ronald Sohigian issued the default judgment after ruling Knight and his attorneys failed to comply with his order to share evidence with Harris and her attorneys in preparation for trial.

Neither Knight's lawyer, Dermot D. Givens, nor his publicist could be reached for comment.

Knight founded the label now known as Tha Row Inc. in 1992, signing some of the world's biggest rap artists, including Tupac Shakur, Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg. His stable dominated rap music for much of the 1990s.

But Knight was imprisoned for five years in 1996 for violating probation on an assault charge.

He was released in 2001 but went back to jail two years later for punching a parking attendant at a Hollywood nightclub.

The rap mogul also has had his share of troubles in civil court. He was sued by attorneys for allegedly unpaid legal fees in 2003, and by the mother and wife of fellow rappers who claimed he defamed them in a song he produced.

- REUTERS