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LASD Demands Apology For Depiction In Biggie, Tupac Crime Special

LOS ANGELES (CBSLA) — The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department Monday demanded an immediate public apology and retraction Monday from Fox Broadcasting for what it called defamatory use of a photograph of the one of the department's commanders in the prime-time special "Who Shot Biggie & Tupac?"

The department said Fox incorrectly identified Cmdr. Steven D. Katz as a detective involved in the investigation of the death of famed East Coast rapper Christopher Wallace, also known as Biggie Smalls, in the two-hour special that aired Sunday night.

Authorities said neither the department nor Katz had any involvement in Wallace's death investigation.

"The segment defamed Katz by repeatedly showing his photograph and expressing through graphics, an indication of `disgrace and outrage' into the handling of the case," the department said in a statement.

"The program also erroneously depicted the LASD as part of the investigation by showing our employee wearing his LASD name badge and standing in front of LASD logos, and indicating several times through graphics and statements, that he was the `lead investigator of (the) Biggie Murder."'

The sheriff's department also said the show's hosts Soledad O'Brien and rapper and actor Ice-T made derogatory comments alleging that the investigator lied and concealed files while showing photos of Katz.

Critical Content, which produced the special, issued the following apology on Facebook late Monday night:

"Critical Content apologizes to Commander Steve Katz of the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department, whose photo was mistakenly included in last night's airing of "Who Shot Biggie and Tupac?" He is not the Steven Katz of the Los Angeles Police Department mentioned in the program."

(©2017 CBS Local Media, a division of CBS Radio Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Wire services contributed to this report.)

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