News: Judge Denies Expansion of B.I.G. Lawsuit
A Los Angeles judge on Thursday denied a request from the family of slain rapper Notorious B.I.G. to expand their lawsuit against the city of Los Angeles to include new claims that a duplicitous cop was on duty at the site of the killing.
Last month, the family submitted a motion claiming that former officers David Mack and Rafael Perez were employed by Death Row Records founder Marion "Suge" Knight. The family believes that all three played a part in the murder of the rapper, whose real name was Christopher Wallace.
The Wallace family also claims that Perez was present on March 9, 1997, when the rapper was shot and killed while leaving a party at the Petersen Automotive Museum in L.A. The litigants also believe that Perez tipped Mack to Biggie's location.
U.S. District Judge Florence-Marie Cooper denied the family's request Thursday, stating there was "no admissible evidence that Perez was on duty ... at the scene of the murder."
Meanwhile, Mack, Perez, Knight and an alleged shooter, Amir Muhammad, have denied involvement in the killing. They were not named as defendants in the family's proposed new suit.
Plaintiffs' attorney Perry Sanders said the judge's ruling means the case against the city will remain the same as when it was filed four years ago.
The new allegation "was about a hair's difference between the original cause of action" and the new case he sought to expand, Sanders said. "We obviously still have all the same claims," he said.
Judge Cooper declared a mistrial last summer after finding that a police detective intentionally hid statements by a jailhouse informant linking the killing to Mack and Perez. The judge also ordered the city to pay $1.1 million in legal fees and other expenses to the rapper's family, who, in turn, had used that judgment to expand its case that rogue police officers were involved in the killing. The retrial is set to begin in January.
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