Biggie Lawyers: Mistrial Not Our Bad

Thu., Jun. 1, 2006 9:15 AM PDT by

It's buck-passing time.

Nearly a week after their courtroom scolding, the lawyers for the family of slain rapper Notorious B.I.G. have answered charges that they deceived a Los Angeles judge into declaring a wrongful death mistrial last July.

According to papers filed in court Tuesday and acquired by the Los Angeles Times, the family attorneys defended their claim that the city withheld a crucial piece of evidence, a report indicating possible police involvement in the killing, during the high-profile trial, despite the city introducing proof to the contrary last week.

Per the LAT, lawyers for the Wallace family said the city "gave a really incomplete view of what happened" when accusing them of misleading the court, and claimed the city was engaging in a "desperate attempt to prevent additional discovery" about further officer misconduct.

"I would hope the judge looks at [the filing] and realizes we did nothing whatsoever to misrepresent anything," Perry R. Sanders Jr., one of the family lawyers, told the paper.

Earlier this year, Judge Florence-Marie Cooper ordered the city to pay $1.1 million to the Wallace family after, midway through the proceedings, a police report came to light detailing allegations made by a jailhouse informant that rogue ex-LAPD officers Rafael Perez and David A. Mack were linked to the Life and Death artist's 1997 slaying.

When Sanders claimed he was never apprised of the report, or given details of the informant's claims, and therefore could not properly prepare for the proceedings, Judge Cooper declared a mistrial and sanctioned the city the seven-figure sum for their failure to disclose the info.

Last week, however, lawyers for the city returned to court with proof that the family's attorneys had been aware of the informants' story since at least November 2002. At which time Cooper declared her outrage at Sanders and his team for allegedly deceiving the court into the favorable ruling.

"I'm just absolutely outraged, because I feel this court has been totally deceived," Cooper said in court last week.

"I believe you absolutely deceived this court into believing that you knew nothing about this," she told Sanders via teleconference. "What I don't understand is, how could you have received this report...and then carried on before this court as if a bombshell had just been dropped in your lap."

The judge gave Sanders & Co. a week's deadline in which to address the claims. The city now has seven days to respond.

Last week, according to the LAT, Cooper said that once all explanations are in, she will "make a determination as to what, if anything, needs to be done," though told both sides that the latest bombshell may indicate that it "might be time to settle this case."

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