According to The Associated Press, U.S. District Judge Florence-Marie Cooper moved the retrial to January 16, three months after the October 16th date she set on June 8, in order to give attorneys for the slain rapper’s family more time to obtain information from the defense.
B.I.G. (born Christopher Wallace) was shot and killed on March 9, 1997 after a party at the Petersen Automotive Museum in Los Angeles. His murder remains unsolved.
The lawsuit brought by Wallace’s family has alleged that the LAPD had some involvement in the killing. Last July Judge Cooper declared a mistrial after learning that an LA detective covered up statements from a jailhouse informant that linked the killing to ex-LAPD Ramparts Division Officers David Mack and Rafael Perez. At that time the judge also ordered the City of Los Angeles to pay $1.1 million dollars in legal fees and expenses to the victim’s family.
Following the mistrial, an investigation of the LAPD’s Robbery-Homicide Division discovered statements given to the department by a former cellmate of Perez claiming Perez had confessed to aiding Mack in killing B.I.G.
Perry Sanders, an attorney for the Wallace family is currently seeking information from 27 Los Angeles employees who he believes had contact with the statements.
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