Lawyers for the Notorious B.I.G.'s family have revealed that they may add a civil racketeering claim when they file a renewed wrongful death lawsuit against the city of Los Angeles and the Los Angeles Police Department.
Volleta Wallace, Biggie's mother, and Faith Evans, his widow, accused convicted corrupt cops Rafael Perez and David Mack of conspiring to kill Biggie with Death Row CEO Marion "Suge" Knight after a Vibe party in March 1997.
"We are considering a racketeering action," the Wallace family attorney Perry Sanders told New York's Daily News.
Sanders said he has not received and reviewed the 81 CDs containing new information from the police's Internal Affairs Bureau.
This past July, a federal judge declared a mistrial in the case after uncovering that the LAPD had hidden reports about a jailhouse informant who made a connection between the former cops and the Biggie killing. Consequently, the judge ordered Los Angeles to pay Smalls' legal team $1.1 million in costs disbursed during the trial. The lawyers had sought $2 million in compensation.
A recent ruling by the 9th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals has made it possible for plaintiffs to file civil claims against the LAPD under the federal RICO Act. The law enables plaintiffs in those claims to receive as much as three times the damages handed by a jury.
If the racketeering charge proves successful, Biggie's family could triple their money in damages. The Los Angeles City Council rejected a bid by the Biggie family to settle the case for $18 million last year.
Volleta Wallace, Biggie's mother, and Faith Evans, his widow, accused convicted corrupt cops Rafael Perez and David Mack of conspiring to kill Biggie with Death Row CEO Marion "Suge" Knight after a Vibe party in March 1997.
"We are considering a racketeering action," the Wallace family attorney Perry Sanders told New York's Daily News.
Sanders said he has not received and reviewed the 81 CDs containing new information from the police's Internal Affairs Bureau.
This past July, a federal judge declared a mistrial in the case after uncovering that the LAPD had hidden reports about a jailhouse informant who made a connection between the former cops and the Biggie killing. Consequently, the judge ordered Los Angeles to pay Smalls' legal team $1.1 million in costs disbursed during the trial. The lawyers had sought $2 million in compensation.
A recent ruling by the 9th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals has made it possible for plaintiffs to file civil claims against the LAPD under the federal RICO Act. The law enables plaintiffs in those claims to receive as much as three times the damages handed by a jury.
If the racketeering charge proves successful, Biggie's family could triple their money in damages. The Los Angeles City Council rejected a bid by the Biggie family to settle the case for $18 million last year.
