LAS VEGAS — Lawyers representing the individual believed to be responsible for the murder of Tupac Shakur are seeking to postpone the upcoming trial in order to conduct additional investigation to ensure a fair trial for Duane “Keffe D” Davis.
A legal motion was submitted on Friday in a Nevada court, shedding light on Davis’ defense strategy, indicating that a private investigator has uncovered witnesses who can attest to his absence from the location of the 1996 shooting and his whereabouts outside Las Vegas at that time.
The motion also hints at the possibility of an alternate individual coordinating the shooting and reveals that potential witnesses with relevant testimony are currently 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 drive-by shooting were “done for entertainment purposes and to make money.”
Defense attorneys also say they have witness information indicating that Shukur 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.
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