Murkiness Reigns in Rapper Death Trial

Ever since rapper Notorious B.I.G. was fatally wounded in a car-to-car shooting on Wilshire Boulevard eight years ago, rumors have swirled in the music world and on the Internet about the possible involvement of off-duty Los Angeles police officers.

When his family filed a wrongful-death suit against the Los Angeles Police Department in federal court, attorneys promised to unravel the conspiracy theories and prove that officers working for a rival rap label, Death Row Records, played a role in the killing of Christopher Wallace, B.I.G.’s real name.

But with the trial now in its third week, exactly what role — if any — officers had in the slaying remains more unclear than ever.

The trial has been filled with dramatic moments that only seemed to add to the confusion.

First, two jailhouse informants backed off of earlier claims that former LAPD Officer David A. Mack had orchestrated Wallace’s killing.

Then, the plaintiffs’ attorneys told the judge they had received an anonymous tip that an LAPD informant had told detectives that former Officer Rafael Perez, a major figure in the Rampart police corruption scandal, participated in the killing along with Mack.

That prompted LAPD internal affairs investigators to sweep through the department’s Robbery Homicide Division on the night of June 24, seizing tapes and transcripts of conversations between the informant and two detectives.

Chastened LAPD officials turned over the information to the court, and Police Chief William J. Bratton questioned why the information had not been included in files previously turned over to Wallace family lawyers.

City attorneys also struggled to explain last week why they had not turned over hundreds of pages of other police personnel and disciplinary files that the plaintiffs had sought before the trial.

Officials said the records had been “misplaced” and found just last week.

But what this all means remains in dispute.

Wallace family lawyers say the revelations show that the LAPD has been covering up key facts in the case and cannot be trusted. Attorneys for the city, however, say there is no substance to the plaintiffs’ case.

None of the information was purposely withheld, they say, and there is no evidence linking LAPD officers to Wallace’s killing.

U.S. District Judge Florence-Marie Cooper said Tuesday that she found the withheld evidence “very disturbing” and said it appeared that one detective, Steven Katz, participated in “a deliberate concealment of information.”

The trial stems from the shooting death of Wallace on the night of March 9, 1997, after a music industry party at the Petersen Automotive Museum in the Miracle Mile district.

The family is suing the city of Los Angeles for allegedly covering up police involvement in the killing, which they say was part of a violent feud between Los Angeles-based Death Row Records chief Marion “Suge” Knight and Wallace’s label, Bad Boy Entertainment of New York.

No one has been charged in the killing, which remains under investigation.

Cooper is requiring Wallace family attorneys to first prove that Mack, in his police capacity, orchestrated the killing before they can try to implicate the city in a coverup.

The plaintiffs allege that top LAPD officials, including former Chief Bernard C. Parks, tried to scuttle the Wallace investigation because it threatened to expose Rampart-related police corruption.

Parks had a personal stake in seeing the case go away, they added, after a photograph of his daughter was allegedly found in the home of a Compton gang member. Parks has flatly denied any involvement, and the plaintiffs have not produced the photo in court.

None of the witnesses called by the Wallace family have conclusively said that Mack worked for Death Row Records, but some said that the ex-officer was present at some events involving the label.

Mack, Perez and Knight have denied any involvement in the shooting.

One of the family’s most promising witnesses failed to buttress their case. Kevin Hackie, a former Death Row Records bodyguard and onetime FBI informant, recanted statements he made under oath that Mack worked in a “covert capacity” for Death Row. Mack told the Los Angeles Times last week that plaintiffs’ attorneys had offered him inducements to change his testimony — something the lawyers deny.

Legal observers said that regardless of how important the withheld evidence is to the case, it can’t help but hurt the city’s defense.

Defense lawyer Carl Douglas said the Police Department “shot themselves in the foot” by failing to turn over information. “It is stunning that, at this hour in trial, there would be this amount of relevant and seemingly important information.”

The evidence issue has already delayed the trial by a week. Cooper said Tuesday that she would consider declaring a mistrial, which would allow the plaintiffs time to review the new documents and potentially change the direction of their case.

While the trial itself is mired in delays, a dramatization of the Wallace investigation is moving ahead. HBO plans to make a movie based on an LAPD detective’s investigation of the killing. Sylvester Stallone will reportedly be the star.