Rap label and founder enter bankruptcy court

Music entrepreneur Marion “Suge” Knight and Death Row Records, which shaped the rise of gansta rap music, sought federal bankruptcy protection Tuesday as a shield against a legal judgment.

The last-minute maneuver in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Los Angeles allowed the music executive to fend off an order by Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Ronald M. Sohigian that would have forced the label into receivership.

At issue is an unpaid judgment against Knight for $107 million that was awarded more than a year ago to Lydia Harris, who alleged in a lawsuit that she helped found the record empire.

Knight and Death Row filed joint petitions. Other creditors listed in the petitions include the Internal Revenue Service, owed $11.3 million, and the law firm of Christensen, Miller, Fink, Jacobs, Glaser, Weil & Shapiro, owed $350,000.

The dispute with Harris never went to trial. Sohigian awarded the judgment after finding that Knight and his attorneys violated court rules requiring them to answer questions and provide information to opposing counsel during the discovery process.

Knight failed to appear before Sohigian on Tuesday and recently missed three other hearings to resolve the matter.

Michael Harris, who is serving a 28-year sentence at San Quentin State Prison, is claiming half of the $107 million as community property in his divorce from Lydia Harris. The inmate has long said he financed the launch of the music label from behind bars -- a contention that Knight has repeatedly denied.

The Chapter 11 filing will supersede receivership proceedings, shifting the case from Superior Court into the federal arena. Knight could lose control of Death Row’s valuable music catalog, which includes recordings by Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg and the late Tupac Shakur.

“We want the Death Row master recordings,” said Steven M. Goldberg, Michael Harris’ attorney. “We want to own the music rights.”