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Biggie Lawyers: Mistrial Not Our Bad
06/01/2006 1:23 PM, E! Online
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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