B.I.G. Family Says Police Officer On Duty During Rapper's Slaying, Requests Lawsuit Expansion

The family of the late Notorious B.I.G. has requested an expansion to their wrongful-death lawsuit against the city of Los Angeles. According to a 94-page motion, the family contends that Los Angeles Police Department officer Rafael Perez was on duty at the Petersen Automotive Museum the night of the killing. The motion also referenced a list of incidents the family believes show a pattern linking police to crimes involving rap stars, including Snoop Dogg and the late Tupac Shakur. The Wallace family's attorneys alleged that Vincent Marella, a private attorney defending the city, admitted in a court hearing July 5 that Perez was in uniform and involved in the rapper's shooting, the Associated Press reports. The full transcripts from the hearing, however, show that Marella was only repeating an informant's allegations. Perez is not named as a defendant in the new suit. The city remains as the only defendant in the suit. The request is the latest in long string of events in the aftermath of the still unsolved murder of B.I.G. The rapper (born Christopher Wallace) was shot and killed in 1997 after leaving a party in Los Angeles. The Wallace family's attorneys claim that officers working for Death Row Records played a role in the killing. Last summer, U.S. District Judge Florence Marie Cooper declared a mistrial after four days of testimony. Cooper said an LAPD detective had hidden statements by a jailhouse informant linking the killing to Perez and Mack. As a result, Cooper ordered the city to pay the family's attorney fees and costs as sanctions for withholding evidence. In addition to Perez and Mack, the new suit doesn't name the other alleged participants which include Death Row owner Marion "Suge" Knight and the alleged triggerman, Amir Muhammad. All four men have denied any involvement in the slaying.