Duane Davis lawyer tells jurors not to believe his past Tupac Shakur claims
The lawyer for Duane “Keffe D” Davis urged jurors to dismiss his public admissions in the killing of Tupac Shakur as unsupported falsehoods.
Las Vegas, United States. Duane “Keffe D” Davis, accused of orchestrating the 1996 drive-by killing of rapper Tupac Shakur, is on trial after public statements he made helped lead to his arrest 27 years later.
His lawyer, Michael Sanft, has told jurors not to take Davis’ past interviews and memoir claims seriously, arguing that they were unsupported by evidence.
Trial and past admissions
Davis, 63, has pleaded not guilty to Shakur’s killing near the Las Vegas Strip in 1996.
Police said they had long suspected Davis but obtained sufficient evidence to arrest him after he stated in media interviews and a 2019 book that he was in a Cadillac with Shakur’s assailants and handed a gun to the men seated behind him.
Defense strategy
In his opening statement, Sanft asked jurors what facts supported Davis’ statements in interviews and his book. He displayed a slide containing the word “BULLSHIT.”
Defense lawyer and former prosecutor Catherine Christian said the approach could be Davis’ best and only defence. She said such arguments can arise in cases involving gang defendants or rappers who may make incriminating claims or use lyrics to seek attention.
Christian said jurors could conclude that Davis invented a story to increase sales of his memoir.
Risks for the defence
Defense attorney Neil Rockind, who is following the case, said the strategy presents a paradox because the defence must portray Davis’ earlier accounts as false while asking jurors to believe his current position.
Sanft, his law firm and the Clark County District Attorney’s Office did not respond to requests for comment.
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