Friday - May 9, 2008

A U.S. District Judge has reinstated a wrongful-death lawsuit brought by the family of slain Hip-Hop rapper, The Notorious B.I.G., reversing an earlier decision to throw the case out.

According to the Associated Press, U.S. District Judge Florence-Marie Cooper dismissed the lawsuit on March 21 after discovering Biggie's (born Christopher Wallace) family missed a state deadline for bringing a claim against the city of Los Angeles and two former LAPD police officers. According to court documents, the Wallace family appealed the ruling and Cooper reversed her decision after finding federal claims in the case can proceed.

The two wrongful death lawsuits were filed against the city on behalf of Biggie's widow, Faith Evans, mother, Voletta Wallace, and his two children. Cooper gave the Wallace family 20 days to file a new lawsuit and drop the state claims.

Notorious BIG funerals - Tribute in Brooklyn

As Industryfinest previously reported, after a series of legal blows dealt to the Brooklyn rapper's family, on Dec. 17, 2007, Cooper ruled against the secondary wrongful death lawsuit. The lawsuit was originally filed in Los Angeles Superior Court, but was then moved to federal court.

The first lawsuit, filed in 2002, by Evans and Mrs. Wallace alleges wrongful death, civil rights violations and accused convicted corrupt cops Rafael Perez and David Mack and Death Row Records CEO Marion "Suge" Knight of conspiring to kill Biggie. The case ended in a mistrial in 2005. However it remains active, with newly discovered evidence surfacing, the judge has allowed the Wallace family to revise the lawsuit.

Notorious B.I.G. was gunned down March 9, 1997, while leaving a party at a Los Angeles Museum. His murder still remains unsolved.

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Just two weeks after being freed from Rikers Island after an eight month stint in prison, Brooklyn rapper Foxy Brown may have run afoul of the law again.

A judge issued a bench warrant for rapper Foxy Brown, after she failed to appear in Brooklyn Criminal Court earlier today (May 5).

Brown, who was released from prison on April 18, was due in court today, to face assault and weapons charges , stemming from an altercation with her Brooklyn neighbor.

The two women clashed over the volume of Brown’s car stereo, as well as the racket her entourage was allegedly making in the Prospect Height’s neighborhood.

The NYPD accused Brown of striking her 25-year-old neighbor in the face with her Blackberry, causing the woman to have a swollen lip, loose teeth and swelling in her right eye.

Brown is also due in court on May 8, where she is expected to reach a plea with the State Attorney in Florida.

The Hip-Hop Music artist was charged with two misdemeanor assault charges, stemming from an altercation at the Queen Beauty Supply Store in February of 2007, in Pembroke Pines, Florida.

Brown’s lawyer in that case severed his ties with the rapper last week citing irreconcilable differences, after the rapper’s New York lawyers worked out a deal that will allow her to serve six months probation.