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 The judge's ruling represents a setback for Knight, who in a
separate case is charged with murdering a man by running him
over with his pickup truck in a January altercation outside a
burger stand in the Los Angeles suburb of Compton.
In the robbery case, Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Ronald
Coen heard evidence against Knight and Williams at a preliminary
hearing and ordered a trial for the pair on robbery charges
stemming from the September 2014 altercation in Beverly Hills.
Knight also faces a separate charge of making a criminal threat.
Prosecutors in the case have said if Knight is convicted they
will seek a sentence of 25 years to life under California's
three-strikes law, which gives stiffer sentences to those
previously convicted of serious felonies. Knight has convictions
from 1997 on two counts of assault with a deadly weapon.
Knight, 50, who co-founded influential hip hop label Death Row
Records, sat quietly in an orange jumpsuit wearing black glasses
and with his feet chained during the hearing.
Knight's attorney Thomas Mesereau told the court his client was
with his son when he encountered photographer Leslie Redden, and
that he was trying to protect the boy from public exposure.
"He never struggled with anyone, he never touched anyone,"
Mesereau said.
Redden testified that she was videotaping Knight in an alley in
Beverly Hills when he charged toward her.
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"He called me a bitch. He said that he will beat my ass and then he
said to someone, 'Take this bitch's camera,'" Redden said, adding
that she ran down the street and was chased by two people.
Beverly Hills police detective Mark Schwartz said a surveillance
video showed a woman throw Redden against a wall.
Other footage played in court showed Williams, a comedian who was
with Knight that day, walking toward Redden with nothing in his
hands and then returning holding a camera, Schwartz said.
Williams' attorney Shawn Holley told the judge her client gave the
camera to someone else.
"He had no intention to keep the camera," she said. "The only
purpose was to delete the images."
Coen ordered an arraignment hearing for Knight and Williams for Oct.
27.
(Reporting by Olga Grigoryants; Writing by Alex Dobuzinskis; Editing
by Daniel Wallis and Eric Beech)
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