A date for a retrial in the wrongful death lawsuit of the late Notorious B.I.G. has been set.
The Associated Press reports the retrial will be October 16.
U.S. District Judge Florence-Marie Cooper, who made the ruling Thursday (June 8), ordered the plaintiff and defense attorneys to continue the information-sharing process in preparation for the retrial.
The decision comes after Cooper said she was “absolutely deceived” by plaintiff attorney Perry Sanders when he claimed he received a last minute tip that the city withheld documents that could support his argument that rogue police officers were involved in the killing.
Although she initially agreed with the city of Los Angeles that Sanders “had misrepresented to the court his surprise and shock at learning about this witness in the middle of trial,” Cooper now believes that no deception occurred, according to the ruling.
The judge further stated that when Sanders first learned about the informant’s claims that the former Los Angeles Police Department officers David Mack and Rafael Perez were involved in the slaying, he believed the statements were not credible because of a lack of corroboration in the form of police reports.
Cooper’s ruling is the latest in the ongoing saga of the lawsuit, which was sparked by the mishandling of the investigation of the still unsolved murder of B.I.G., who was shot and killed March 9,1991 after leaving a party at the Petersen Automotive Museum.
A mistrial was declared last summer after Cooper discovered that a police detective intentionally hid statements by a jailhouse informant linking the killing to Mack and Perez.
As a result, the judge ordered the city to pay $1.1 million in legal fees and other expenses to the rapper’s family.
A twist in the case occurred during a May 23 hearing.
In the proceeding, which was held in preparation for a retrial, defense attorneys showed Cooper a report indicating Sanders knew about the informant’s claims as early as 2002.
