Duane “Keffe D” Davis’ defense has rested in the Las Vegas case over the 1996 killing of the rapper. Jurors are scheduled to hear final arguments Monday, August 31.
LAS VEGAS — The murder trial of Duane “Keffe D” Davis, charged in the 1996 killing of Tupac Shakur, is entering its final phase after the defense rested its case Thursday.
Jurors are due back in Clark County District Court on Monday, August 31, for closing arguments and then deliberations. Davis, 63, did not testify. He has pleaded not guilty to murder with a deadly weapon with the intent to promote, further or assist a criminal gang, a charge that carries a possible life sentence if he is convicted.
Shakur was shot on September 7, 1996, after a white Cadillac pulled alongside the BMW in which he was riding near the Las Vegas Strip. He died six days later; the BMW’s driver, Marion “Suge” Knight, survived. Prosecutors allege Davis organized the shooting after a casino fight involving Davis’ nephew, Orlando “Baby Lane” Anderson. The prosecution has relied heavily on Davis’ past interviews, memoir and recorded jail calls. Defense attorney Michael Sanft has argued that Davis embellished or fabricated his accounts for attention and financial gain, and that investigators did not independently corroborate key details.
The defense’s final witness, retired Las Vegas homicide detective Dan Long, testified that he was unable to confirm several details Davis gave police in a 2009 interview, including records tied to an alleged hospital visit and a rented Cadillac. On cross-examination, Long said Davis had identified the same four men investigators already believed were in the Cadillac, according to the reporting.
