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Legal
Notorious BIG lawsuit dismissed
By CMU Editorial | Published on Friday 23 April 2010
A wrongful death lawsuit brought by the family of the late Notorious BIG against the city of LA has been dismissed, though seemingly with the family’s approval.
The lawsuit against the LA authorities, instigated by the family of the late rapper, real name Christopher Wallace, was originally filed in 2003, and was based on allegations the LAPD deliberately bungled its investigations into the 1997 murder of Biggie because some of its own officers had been involved in the shooting that killed him.
The legal action initially came to court in 2005, but as the case went through the motions it was revealed the LAPD had randomly ‘found’ crucial evidence lying in a drawer at the last minute, evidence that would have radically altered the Wallace family’s case. The judge hearing the case declared a mistrial, and awarded the late hip hopper’s family $1.6 million in damages as compensation for the police force’s incompetence.
The LAPD subsequently put a new team onto investigating the unsolved murder, and the Wallace family launched their lawsuit anew. But a spokesman for both sides of the dispute said this week that that suit had now been dismissed because of concerns the litigation might hinder the LAPD’s ongoing investigations into the rapper’s death.
Legal reps for the Wallace clan seem to be saying they are happy for the litigation to take a back burner while the police are actively trying to solve the case, but they retain the right to reinstate legal proceedings if and when the authorities fail to pursue criminal proceedings in relation to the murder.
Wallace was just 24 when he was gunned down in one of the more violent moments of the hip hop community’s famous feuding. Various hip hoppers and off duty or former LAPD officers have been linked to the murder over the years.
