Family of Notorious B.I.G. nets $1.1 million from L.A.

A federal judge in Los Angeles has ordered the city to pay $1.1 million US in legal costs to the family of dead rapper Notorious B.I.G.

Friday’s decision did not provide the original $2 million the family had been demanding.  The family had argued the police intentionally withheld evidence during its civil lawsuit trial.

“It’s pretty clear from the ruling the judge understands this is a significant and difficult case,” said Perry Sanders, a lawyer representing the family.

Notorious B.I.G., born Christopher Wallace, was shot and killed March 9, 1997 after a party in the city. The killing has not been solved.

A mistrial was declared last summer in the family’s civil suit after a discovery that a police detective hid statements linking former city police officers David Mack and Rafael Perez to the killing.

The family alleges Mack had orchestrated the murder with the help of a college friend, Amir Muhammad, on the orders of Death Row Records head Marion (Suge) Knight.  All three have denied involvement.

An anonymous tip to the family from a former officer claimed a police department informant had tied Perez and Mack to Wallace’s death. A search of files uncovered a transcript from a former Perez cellmate, who had told the department that Perez had confessed to partnering with Mack in Wallace's killing.

L.A. Detective Steven Katz said he had overlooked the transcript in his desk.  City lawyers protested that the statements had come from an informant seeking special treatment.

The judge ruled Katz and other officers might have suppressed the information.  A re-trial is set to begin later this year.

“We believe the officer’s conduct was inadvertent, and we will prevail at trial on the merits of the case,” said city official Jonathan Diamond.

Four years ago, Wallace's mother, his sister and his widow, recording artist Faith Evans, sued the city, Mack, Bernard Parks, who was the police chief at the time, and others, alleging wrongful death and accusing police officials of covering up the involvement of corrupt officers in the killing.

Most of the defendants were dropped from the lawsuit, only the city remains.