Family of Slain Rap Star Drops 2 Men From Lawsuit
Less than two weeks before trial, relatives of the late rap star Notorious B.I.G. have dropped from their wrongful-death lawsuit two men they had accused of conspiring to kill the entertainer.
The move appears to mark a retreat from a theory at the center of the lawsuit: that corrupt police officers orchestrated the slaying of the 24-year-old rapper, born Christopher Wallace, and that top Los Angeles Police Department officials covered up their actions.
Wallace's mother, Voletta, and other relatives sued the city three years ago, identifying an ex-LAPD officer named David A. Mack as an alleged mastermind of the shooting.
Friday the plaintiffs dropped Mack as a defendant. Papers filed in U.S. District Court offer no explanation for the move. They do indicate that in return for being dropped from the case, Mack agreed not to sue the family for malicious prosecution.
Today attorneys for the Wallace family are expected to file papers dropping a second defendant, Amir Muhammad. The plaintiffs had alleged that Muhammad, a college classmate of Mack's, shot Wallace dead at Mack's urging.
Neither Muhammad, a Southland mortgage broker, nor his attorney could be reached for comment.
The city of Los Angeles is now the only remaining defendant in the case. The suit, which seeks unspecified monetary damages, is scheduled to go to trial June 23.
Perry Sanders, an attorney for the rapper's family, said the dropping of the two defendants would not damage the plaintiffs' efforts to prove their case. "This is a civil rights case against the city of Los Angeles," Sanders said Sunday. "This has always been a case against the city."
A third figure in the alleged conspiracy, rap entrepreneur Marion "Suge" Knight, was never named as a defendant, although the lawsuit contends that he ordered the killing.
The Wallace family had previously dropped as a defendant former Police Chief Bernard C. Parks. The suit alleged that he orchestrated a cover-up of police involvement in the murder.
Notorious B.I.G., also known as Biggie Smalls, was gunned down March 9, 1997, after a music-industry party in the Mid-Wilshire district.
The killing occurred six months after rap star Tupac Shakur, a friend-turned-rival of Wallace's, was fatally wounded in a drive-by shooting in Las Vegas.
No one has been charged in either slaying.
- Notorious B.I.G.'s family files lawsuit alleging conspiracy Apr 18, 2007
- Council Rejects Rapper Family's Settlement Aug 18, 2005
- Family of Slain Rapper Asks to Expand Lawsuit Jul 12, 2006
