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City of Los Angeles Pays B.I.G. Fine

It may be cold comfort to the family of Biggie Smalls, but the city of Los Angeles is paying them $1.1 million as a penalty for police negligence. That negligence led to a mistrial in the slain rapper's wrongful death trial, which was abruptly halted last July. The money is expected to go mostly towards covering the family's legal fees.

Led by Biggie's mother, Voletta Wallace, and his widow, Faith Evans, the family first filed a wrongful death suit in 2002, claiming that two corrupt LAPD officers, David Mack and Rafael Perez, conspired Death Row Records label head Marion "Suge" Knight to have the Notorious B.I.G. gunned down outside a Los Angeles party in 1997. The trial finally got underway last summer, but U.S. District Judge Florence-Marie Cooper quickly declared a mistrial when it emerged that an LAPD homicide detective had failed to turn over testimony from an informant demonstrating a link between the two corrupt cops and Death Row.

Recently, LA police reopened the Notorious B.I.G. murder case and assigned a new team of detectives to resume the investigation. No suspects in the murder were ever identified.

The wrongful death trial is expected to resume this summer.

-- The ARTISTdirect Staff
03.30.06