The request made also indicates the possibility of someone else having planned the shooting and mentions that individuals who could provide evidence are currently being questioned.
In Las Vegas, the lawyers representing the individual accused of the murder of the renowned rap artist Tupac Shakur are requesting a postponement of the upcoming trial. They argue that additional time is crucial for investigative procedures to ensure that Duane “Keffe D” Davis receives a fair legal process.
As per the document submitted to a Nevada court on Friday, insight into Davis’ defense strategy is provided. It mentions that a private investigator has located individuals who can testify that Davis was not present at the location of the shooting in 1996, and neither was he in Las Vegas during that period.
The motion also suggests that someone else may have orchestrated the shooting and that witnesses who could testify on the matter are being interviewed.
The defense team said in a statement that the new developments and the need to interview key witnesses necessitate a delay. A hearing was scheduled Tuesday to discuss the timing of the trial, currently set to begin in March.
“This case involves decades-old allegations, and with every new piece of evidence, it becomes increasingly clear that critical facts have yet to be fully examined,” said attorney Carl Arnold, who is leading Davis’ defense.
On the night of Sept. 7, 1996, Shakur was in a BMW being driven by Death Row Records founder Marion “Suge” Knight. They were waiting at a red light when a white Cadillac pulled up next to them and gunfire erupted.
Davis, an ex-gang leader who is accused of orchestrating Shakur’s killing near the Las Vegas Strip, has pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder and has been jailed since his September 2023 arrest.
Long known to investigators as one of four suspects identified early in the investigation, he is the only one to be charged.
Arnold has argued that Davis never should have been charged because of immunity agreements that Davis says he reached years ago with federal and local prosecutors while living in California.
Prosecutors have said any immunity agreement was limited and they have strong evidence against Davis, including his own accounts of the shooting in the tell-all memoir “Compton Street Legend.”
Davis has acknowledged in interviews and in the memoir that he provided the gun used in the drive-by shooting and that he was in the car. But his court filings say his descriptions in recent years of orchestrating the shooting were “done for entertainment purposes and to make money.”
Defense attorneys also say they have witness information indicating that Shakur was in stable condition after the shooting and that he died suddenly after being hospitalized for a week. They were consulting medical and forensic experts to evaluate potential alternative causes of death.
