Notorious B.I.G.
A wrongful death lawsuit filed by the mother of the late Notorious B.I.G. against the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) has been thrown out of court, eight years after the complaint was originally lodged.
The rap great, real name Christopher Wallace, was shot dead in Los Angeles in 1997, aged just 24. His murder has never been solved, despite witness reports and a plethora of conspiracy theories linking his death to the murder of rap rival Tupac Shakur, who was killed in September, 1996.
His mother Voletta Wallace blamed L.A. city officials and the LAPD for her son's tragic death and filed suit against them in 2002.
In her legal papers, Voletta claimed Shakur's label boss, rap mogul Marion 'Suge' Knight, had conspired with alleged gunman Amir Muhammad and LAPD officers Rafael Perez and David Mack to kill B.I.G., although no one has ever been charged with his murder.
The Wallace family initially won the case in March, 2006, when U.S. District Judge Florence-Marie Cooper ruled in their favour and awarded them a $1.1 million judgement against the city's authorities.
The ruling was subsequently overturned two months later when it was revealed the Wallaces had held back information they had previously told the court they did not have access to, reports AllHipHop.com.
The case returned to court earlier this year (10) and, after a series of hearings, federal court Judge Jacqueline Nguyen dismissed the lawsuit without prejudice this week (12Apr10), ending the eight-year court battle.
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