Davis plans appeal after Tupac Shakur murder conviction

Duane “Keffe D” Davis is preparing to appeal his conviction for the 1996 killing of Tupac Shakur, a verdict that ended one of music’s most closely watched cold cases and has renewed attention on the still-unsolved murder of Shakur’s rival, the Notorious B.I.G.

A Las Vegas jury on Monday found Davis, 63, guilty of first-degree murder with use of a deadly weapon in the fatal drive-by shooting of Shakur nearly 30 years ago. Sentencing is set for Oct. 13. He faces the possibility of spending the rest of his life in prison.

“We were preparing for the appeal, so even Mr. Davis knew that going in,” defense attorney Michael Sanft told NBC News on Tuesday. “Even before the first set of jurors came in for jury selection, we knew it was going to be an appeal issue.”

Sanft said the appeal will focus on the judge’s decision to allow jurors to hear statements Davis made to investigators under a 2008 proffer agreement. The agreement allowed Davis to speak candidly about what he did or witnessed the night Shakur was shot without facing charges. Davis made the statements while federal investigators were examining the killing of Christopher Wallace, the rapper known as the Notorious B.I.G. or Biggie Smalls.

Prosecutors used Davis’ own words as a central part of their case, playing recordings of his statements to investigators and pointing jurors to accounts he later gave in interviews and in his 2019 memoir, “Compton Street Legend.” The BBC reported that Davis said he tossed a firearm into the backseat and that his nephew, Orlando “Baby Lane” Anderson, used the gun to fatally shoot Shakur. Anderson, who denied killing Shakur, was shot dead in 1998.

Sanft argued at trial that Davis fabricated or embellished his accounts for money and notoriety. He also said investigators had no physical evidence independently placing Davis at the scene and urged jurors to ask, “what facts do you have?”

“There’s no proof,” he argued to the jury, according to the BBC.

Prosecutors called 24 witnesses during the 10-day trial. The defense called three. Davis did not testify, but jurors heard extensively from him through earlier recordings and public statements. They deliberated for less than three hours before returning a unanimous guilty verdict.

“For a jury to come back 2½ hours after submitting it to them… they had pretty much made up their minds,” Sanft said. “We thought for sure they were going to, you know, spend time over the night to come back in the morning and really get into the evidence.”

Prosecutors described Davis as a “shotcaller” in the South Side Compton Crips who helped orchestrate the attack after Shakur and others beat Anderson inside the MGM Grand earlier that night. Davis was not accused of firing the shots, but prosecutors said he provided the gun and helped set the killing in motion. Under Nevada law, a person who aids or abets a murder can be held criminally responsible.

On Sept. 7, 1996, Shakur, 25, was riding in a BMW driven by Death Row Records co-founder Marion “Suge” Knight near the Las Vegas Strip when a white Cadillac pulled alongside and someone inside opened fire. Shakur was shot multiple times and died six days later. Knight survived.

Davis became the only person ever prosecuted in connection with Shakur’s death. He is also the only person still alive believed to have been in the Cadillac, though Sanft said the defense maintains Davis was not in the car or in Las Vegas that night.

The verdict prompted emotion among Shakur’s family in court, the BBC reported. At a Tuesday news conference, Clark County District Attorney Steve Wolfson said family members were relieved and “finally have justice.”

“Their loved one was murdered,” Wolfson said. “They waited 30 years for a trial. It’s very understandable that they were relieved.”

The conviction has also raised questions about Wallace’s killing. Wallace was shot in Los Angeles on March 9, 1997, about six months after Shakur was attacked. No one has been charged. The Los Angeles Police Department told the BBC that Wallace’s murder remains “an open, unsolved case” and urged anyone with tips to contact authorities.

Sanft said Davis is focused on the appeal and that the defense will seek the minimum sentence in October.

“No one ever wants to lose, especially something like this,” he said. “But ultimately, at the end of the day, he understands that this is the next step.”