Judge Dismisses Notorious B.I.G. Wrongful Death Suit

A federal judge dismissed a wrongful death lawsuit filed by the family of the late Notorious B.I.G on Monday. Judge Florence-Marie Cooper granted a request made by the defendants, which included the city of Los Angeles and former LAPD officer Rafeal Perez, and dropped the case, ruling that the family failed to file the suit within the designated time frame.

The family of the late rapper, whose real name was Christopher Wallace, filed the secondary suit in April 2007, which claimed Perez conspired to murder Wallace with fellow former police officers David Mack and Nino Durden. The rapper's estate also accused the city of Los Angeles of attempting to cover up the officers' involvement in the 1997 murder.

"This was not the primary civil-rights claim, that suit is still going forward," Wallace family's lead attorney Perry Sanders assured MTV. "This was a standalone action based on state laws, but the rigorous rules state that if you don't file suit within six months of the injury, then the suit cannot go forward, and we didn't find out that Perez was on duty until August 2006."