Suge Knight urges longtime rival Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs to take the stand to ‘humanize’ himself

CNN Imprisoned former rap mogul Marion Suge Knight who for decades shared an acrimonious relationship with Sean Diddy Combs urged his longtime archrival to take the stand in his ongoing trial Speaking to CNN s Laura Coates in a brief phone interview from prison where he s serving a -year-sentence for a deadly hit-and-run in Knight disclosed he maintained Combs should humanize himself I feel if he do tell his truth he really would walk Knight mentioned If Puffy goes up there and says Hey I did all the drugs I wasn t in control of my life at the time or myself he can humanize his old self and the jury might give him a shot But if they keep him sitting down it s like he s scared to face the music Knight added He should just have his faith in God put up his pants and go up there and tell his truth Combs has pleaded not guilty to charges that include racketeering conspiracy sex trafficking and transportation to engage in prostitution If convicted on all counts he could face up to life in prison It s not clear whether Combs will testify at his trial Taking the stand can be seen as a risky move for defendants because it can open them up to a bruising cross-examination experts say Benjamin Chew the co-lead counsel for actor Johnny Depp in his defamation trial narrated CNN earlier this week that the standard wisdom is for defendants not to testify but added it may benefit Combs to defend himself and express remorse over the assertions that have been brought up during the prosecution s situation Knight the co-founder of Death Row Records was best known in the s for helping promote West Coast rap in a field that had long been dominated by East Coast artists It was during this time that his rivalry with Combs ratcheted up with their respective labels fighting for dominance and the two groups trading society insults and diss tracks The feud reached its peak when Tupac Shakur and Christopher Wallace known by his rap alias the Notorious B I G were shot and killed within months of each other Knight was driving the car in which Shakur was killed in Las Vegas in Knight has resurfaced in headlines in fresh weeks during Combs trial as several former staffers employed by Combs mentioned the men s rivalry One of Combs former personal assistants Capricorn Clark stated Combs once brought her to Central Park at night and brought up her former employment with Death Row Records He communicated me that he didn t know that I had anything to do with Suge Knight and if anything happened he would have to kill me Clark revealed David James another former assistant recalled an instance when he and Combs assurance guard ran into Knight at a diner When Combs heard about it he ordered James to drive them back to the diner bringing three handguns with him but Knight had left by the time they arrived James testified Knight was sentenced to prison in after pleading no contest to manslaughter in the death of a man he was accused of hitting with his truck on the set of the movie Straight Outta Compton