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The ruling was made at a hearing in Los Angeles Superior
Court where Knight appeared in an orange jump suit, two weeks
after his attorney Matthew Fletcher told reporters he expected
Knight would at that time be able to obtain the bail amount and
regain his freedom.
Knight, 50, has pleaded not guilty to charges including murder
and attempted murder stemming from a hit-and-run at a hamburger
stand in the Los Angeles suburb of Compton that followed an
argument on the set of a commercial for the film "Straight Outta
Compton."
Knight is accused of deliberately running over Terry Carter, 55,
who later died, and another man with his pickup truck.
Fletcher asked Judge Ronald Coen on Thursday to reduce his
client's bail amount, saying "$10 million is remarkably high,"
but Coen declined.
Two weeks earlier, when he ruled that there was enough evidence
to proceed with a trial in the case, Coen had reduced Knight's
bail from $25 million to $10 million.
Fletcher had said at the time that he believed two bail
companies could "stack" Knight's bail by providing a combined
$10 million. But on Thursday he told reporters that was not
possible and that Knight was still working to try to obtain the
bail amount.
"I think we're going to have really good luck. I think we will
be able to make bail," Fletcher said.
He said Knight is friends with boxer Floyd Mayweather Jr and was
hopeful the prize fighter might provide money for his bail.
Mayweather will face Manny Pacquiao on Saturday in a mega-bout
in Las Vegas.
Coen scheduled Knight's trial to begin on July 7. If convicted,
the co-founder of the influential hip hop label Death Row
Records would face a mandatory sentence of 25 years to life in
prison.
Later, Carter's daughter, Nekaya, told reporters outside court
she is happy the case is moving forward. "The focus is
definitely the victim, my father," she said.
Knight is charged separately with robbery and making a
terroristic threat in connection with the September theft of a
camera in Beverly Hills.
Knight has previous convictions from 1997 on two counts of
assault with a deadly weapon, according to court documents.
(Writing by Alex Dobuzinskis; Editing by Bill Trott)
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