PROSECUTOR'S LAWYER DENIES WRONGDOING.Byline: Janet Gilmore Daily News Staff Writer The lawyer representing Lawrence Longo said Tuesday that the prosecutor committed no legal or ethical violations in supervising Marion ``Suge'' Knight's probation even though his family had a financial link totaling $253,000 with the Death Row Records executive. Attorney Donald Wager said Longo's 18-year-old daughter, Gina, signed a $25,000 record deal in January 1996 with Knight's company, and that Knight's criminal attorney criminal attorney n. a popular term for an attorney who specializes in defending people charged with crimes. Many lawyers handle criminal defense, but also have other clientele. However, some states will certify a lawyer as a "criminal law specialist" based on experience and extra training in that field. (See: crime, felon, misdemeanor), David Kenner Kenner, city (1990 pop. 72,033), Jefferson parish, SE La., a suburb of New Orleans; inc. 1952. Kenner has grown since the 1970s into an area of moderate- to upper-income housing developments. The city has commercial activities, retail businesses, and manufacturing (electronics, food, chemicals, machinery, lumber). New Orleans International Airport is within the city limits, and Jefferson Downs racetrack is nearby., signed a one-year lease with Longo's attorney son, Frank Longo, for a Malibu Colony home in trust to the Longo children. The lease specified that Kenner would pay $19,000 a month for the six-bedroom beachfront home. Officials say Knight, 31, lived in the home through the summer, and before his arrest on probation violation allegations. ``There's nothing in the law that prevents attorneys from entering into business relationships with each other,'' Wager said Tuesday. ``My position is, if there isn't a conflict of interest, how can there be an appearance of one.'' Longo was placed on administrative leave Monday as the Los Angeles District Attorney District Attorney (D.A.) n. an elected official of a county or a designated district with the responsibility for prosecuting crimes. The duties include managing the prosecutor's office, investigating alleged crimes in cooperation with law enforcement, and filing criminal charges or bringing evidence before the Grand Jury that may lead to an indictment for a crime.'s Office investigates whether the veteran prosecutor, who supervised Knight's probation in a 1992 assault case, violated office ethics or criminal law. Today, a judge will consider whether the entire District Attorney's Office should be removed from prosecuting the Knight case because of its own potential conflicts of interest. At the same time, Superior Court Judge John Ouderkirk has suggested Kenner may not be the best attorney to represent Knight because of his own conflicts of interest in the matter. Officials with the District Attorney's Office declined to comment Tuesday on how the office will proceed. Ouderkirk must decide whether to give the case to the state Attorney General's Office. Coming one week ahead of the Nov. 5 election, the issue is a sensitive one for District Attorney Gil Garcetti. John Lynch, his challenger, has accused the district attorney of dragging his feet on the investigation after learning about the allegations against Longo in September. Wager, Longo's attorney, said there is no need for the District Attorney's Office to be removed from the case because everything was above board. Last year, Knight pleaded no contest to two counts of assault and received a suspended prison sentence of nine years and five years' probation. |
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