*Three Los Angeles Police Department detectives accused of covering up evidence in the investigation of the still-unsolved murder of The Notorious B.I.G. can be added as defendants in the family's wrongful death lawsuit against the city.

The development was announced Tuesday in a statement from the estate of the slain rapper, whose real name was Christopher Wallace. The Brooklyn-born artist was gunned down on March 9, 1997, while leaving an industry party in Los Angeles.

U.S. District Court Judge Florence-Marie Cooper ruled that Detectives Stanley Nalywaiko and Stuart Maislin of the Los Angeles Police Department's Risk Management Group, along with Detective Steven Katz, whose concealment of evidence led to a 2005 mistrial, can be added as defendants in the Wallace family's lawsuit.

The family alleges that "in their capacity as supervisors in the Risk Management Group, [Nalywaiko, Katz, and Maislin] failed to supervise or directly participated in the concealment of evidence in this case."

In 2005, Judge Cooper declared a mistrial in the wrongful death case after finding that Detective Katz hid statements linking B.I.G.'s killing to rogue cops David A. Mack and Rafael Perez. Noting that "the attempted concealment of evidence and failure to respond to officer wrongdoing is a central issue in this case" -- and that such evidence did not come to light until "after the 2005 mistrial" -- Judge Cooper said there was no reason not to grant the family's request to amend its lawsuit to add the three detectives as defendants.

The Wallace family's lead attorney, Perry R. Sanders, Jr., has long maintained that the case involved an LAPD cover-up. "Judge Cooper's ruling today gives the family a chance to prove to the world that police were involved in the murder -- and that high officials have covered up for those officers," Sanders said. "The family is extremely pleased to have the opportunity to hold accountable some of the key the people involved in the cover-up."

The Wallace estate says Judge Cooper's 11-page ruling denied on technical grounds the family's request also to add other defendants, noting that separate suits could be brought against those individuals. As previously reported, Judge Cooper allowed the addition of former Death Row CEO Marion "Suge" Knight and other defendants after ruling the lawsuit could be amended because of newly discovered evidence.