Rap Artist Family Make Offer - LA Says No |
Written by Robert ID1804 |
Thursday, 18 August 2005 01:01 |
The story of the late NY hip-hop rap artist B.I.G.G.I.E. and his families’ law suit against the City and the Police Dept. of Los Angeles just keeps getting stranger. The City of Los Angeles has rejected the families ‘settlement’ offer of 18 million dollars to stop further legal actions against the City of LA and The LA Police Dept. What started out to be not about money, but to shed light on what really happened, has turned into what many see as about the money. The families’ first trial had a lot of theories and accusations but no real proof that the public saw. U.S. District Judge Florence-Marie Cooper declared that trial a mistrial, saying evidence was concealed in the case. District Judge Florence-Marie Cooper said she would sanction the defendants by ordering them to pay the families’ attorneys fees and costs. Just a few days ago the families’ lawyers asked for over 2 million dollars for legal fees. In refusing to agree to pay this recent ‘offer’ to settle, LA City Council said "Why would we pay if we''re not culpable of anything?" A lawyer for the family of the slain rap artist, Perry Sanders says "We''re giving the city the chance to stand up and do the right thing and not be painted with the really ugly brush that people in the LAPD could be painted with.” This all arises from the death of the rapper Notorious B.I.G. in Los Angeles in March of 1997. The rap artists’ family has made claims that certain parties where involved and that the murder was in retaliation to the murder of west coast rap icon Tupac Shakur. But the council voted to reject the settlement demand on Wednesday. "To my knowledge there's been no connection established with the police department," spokesman Dennis Zine said. "They''re trying to hold the taxpayers responsible and based on the media reports I''ve seen there has been no link (to LAPD officers)." This ‘saga’ seems to have no end in site and the family of the rap artist will most likely re-file their lawsuit. |