Suge Knight Gets a New Trial

BIRTHS
R&B crooner Lionel Richie, 49, and his wife, clothing designer Diane Richie, 32, welcomed daughter Sofia, 7 pounds 4 ounces, Aug. 24 in L.A. The couple, who have been married since 1996, have a son, Miles, 4.

ENGAGED
Actor Brad Garrett, 38 (Everybody Loves Raymond), to gardener Jill Diven, 33. The couple, who have been dating a year, expect their first child in October. It will be the first marriage for both.

ARRESTED
Country singer Johnny Rodriguez, 47, whose 30-plus hits include 1973's ''You Always Come Back (To Hurting Me),'' was arrested Aug. 29, in Sabinal, Tex., and charged with murder after allegedly shooting Israel Borrego, 26, an unemployed laborer and acquaintance who had entered Rodriguez's house after midnight. Rodriguez's lawyer, Alan Brown, has described the shooting as accidental. Rodriguez is being held in lieu of $250,000 bond.

SENTENCED
He's an eager little buddy. A week before his court date, former Gilligan's Island star Bob Denver, 63, pleaded no contest Aug. 27 in Princeton, W.Va., to marijuana possession. The former castaway was sentenced to six months' unsupervised probation.

WINNER
On Aug. 26, the California Court of Appeals approved a new hearing for Death Row Records honcho Marion ''Suge'' Knight, 32, currently serving a nine-year prison sentence after violating probation on two counts of assault. ''We're hopeful that he will be released shortly,'' says Knight's lawyer, David Kenner.

LOSER Nude pictures of Brooke Shields, 33, taken by photographer Garry Gross, 60, when Shields was 10, will be displayed in Manhattan's American Fine Arts gallery Sept. 10. The actress sued Gross in 1981, tearfully testifying that the pics embarrassed her. Gross prevailed in a landmark 1983 New York State Court of Appeals ruling, but found that the market had waned after Shields took a break from acting to attend Princeton. ''Hopefully she has the maturity now to view these pictures in a different way,'' says Gross. Shields has no comment.

DEATH
Prolific lyricist Marshall Barer, 75, of liver cancer Aug. 25, in Santa Fe, N.M. Barer penned 1959's Once Upon a Mattressand also wrote the words to the Mighty Mouse theme song.