Late Rap Artist Lawsuit Resumes July 5th
| Late Rap Artist Lawsuit Resumes July 5th |
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| Written by Robert ID1610 |
| Wednesday, 29 June 2005 15:23 |
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U.S. District Judge Florence-Marie Cooper ordered the nine jurors to return to federal court Tuesday morning July 5th to continue testimony in the trial of the wrongful death lawsuit of late hip-hop rap artist Notorious B.I.G., attorneys for both sides said today. The Notorious B.I.G. wrongful death trial was put on hold Wednesday because of expected heavy traffic downtown for the incoming mayor's inaugural events. The trial, which began June 21, had been expected to resume Thursday. It was first delayed Monday after a tip prompted the discovery of Los Angeles Police Department documents regarding a prison informant. The informant, Kenny Boagni, shared a cell with the officer at the heart of the LAPD's Rampart corruption scandal, Rafael Perez. Boagni said Perez acknowledged that on the night the New York rapper was killed, he was moonlighting as a security guard for rival label Death Row Records. Attorneys for B.I.G.'s family on Tuesday deposed four LAPD employees, including a detective who spoke with Boagni in 2000. Family attorney Perry Sanders Jr. said Cooper also ordered the LAPD to produce a number of internal affairs documents regarding Perez and another corrupt officer, David Mack. According to the theory advanced in the family's lawsuit against the city and LAPD, Mack arranged to have a college roommate kill B.I.G. in 1997 at the behest of Death Row founder and CEO Marion "Suge" Knight. The suit does not target Mack, Perez, Suge Knight or the alleged shooter, and none of them have been formally named suspects or arrested in connection with the still-unsolved killing. There are two theories about Knight's alleged motives. One is that Knight had Wallace killed because he blamed him for the slaying of his star artist, west coast rap icon Tupac Shakur, six months earlier in Las Vegas. The other is that Knight had Shakur killed because Shakur wanted to leave Death Row, then had Wallace killed to make both slayings appear part of an East Coast-West Coast rap war. There has been no real evidence of Suge Knight’s involvement in the murder of Notorious B.I.G., just a lot of theories and allegations. The trial will resume Tuesday morning, July 5th. |
