A federal judge has ordered the city of Los Angeles to pay $1.1 million in attorney fees and other costs to the family of slain Rapper Notorious B.I.G. as reparations for intentionally withholding evidence in the investigation to find his killer, says the Los Angeles Times. U.S. District Judge Florence-Marie Cooper had declared a mistrial last summer in the family’s civil lawsuit against the city, once it was discovered that an LAPD detective hid statements linking the killing to rogue LAPD Officers David Mack and Rafael Perez. At the time, city attorneys protested that the statements had come from a jailhouse informant seeking special treatment, and Detective Steven Katz claimed that he mistakenly overlooked the transcript of the remarks that was in his desk. However, the judge ruled that Katz and perhaps others had deliberately concealed the information when it could have helped the family’s case. Therefore, the judge awarded the Wallace family $1.1 million (which is less than the $2 million they were seeking) and a new civil trial will begin later this year.

Perry Sanders, an attorney for the rapper’s family who is preparing for a retrial, told the Times, “It’s pretty clear from the ruling that the judge understands this is a significant and difficult case. It seems like everything she did was measured, and we think what she did was appropriate.”

Jonathan Diamond, a spokesman for city attorney Rocky Delgadillo, said, “We were disappointed with the order. We believe the officer’s conduct was inadvertent, and we will prevail at trial on the merits of the case.”

Credit: FMQB