Convictions: Slate's blog on legal issues

A B.I.G. Hoax?

Last week I cited an L.A. Times feature on the Tupac Shakur killing as part of a post on Eliot Spitzer and Dickie Scruggs. Serious questions have now been raised about the accuracy of that story, which hinges upon a series of documents provided to the paper by a source which depicted an informant's conversations with the FBI. Times editor Russ Stanton said that "questions have been raised about the authenticity of documents that we relied on for a story on the assault of Tupac Shakur in New York ... we are taking this very seriously and have begun our own investigation." 

(Full disclosure: I've been friends with Chuck Philips, the L.A. Times reporter who wrote the Shakur story, for nearly 15 years, and think he's a phenomenal journalist, but have not talked with him about this matter.)