Jurors in Duane “Keefe D” Davis’ murder trial will be allowed to hear him describe the night Tupac Shakur was fatally shot, following a key ruling from a Nevada judge.
Judge Carli Kierny ruled Tuesday that Davis’ 2008 interview with police can be introduced at his trial, set to begin Aug. 10. Davis, 63, has pleaded not guilty and faces life in prison without parole if convicted of orchestrating Shakur’s killing.
Defense attorney Michael Sanft tried to keep the recording out of court, arguing investigators had assured Davis that his statements would not be used against him.
“I sang because they promised I would not be prosecuted,” Davis later wrote in his memoir, “Compton Street Legend.”
Prosecutors said Davis made the interview fair game by repeatedly discussing the case, including in his book and public appearances. Kierny also rejected an earlier attempt to block the memoir, citing an interview in which Davis called it the “real truth.”
Keefe D accuses Diddy of bringing down both his and Suge Knight's empires due to the 2Pac Situation. pic.twitter.com/Z155FnjrHc
— The Art Of Dialogue (@ArtOfDialogue_) September 30, 2023
During the 2008 interview, Davis recalled seeing Shakur and Death Row Records founder Marion “Suge” Knight in Las Vegas before his group pulled alongside them in a white Cadillac. He claimed his nephew, Orlando “Baby Lane” Anderson, “popped them.”
Shakur was struck by gunfire on September 7, 1996, while stopped at a red light near the Las Vegas Strip. The 25-year-old rapper died six days later. Knight suffered minor injuries.
Davis, the only surviving alleged occupant of the Cadillac, has said he supplied the gun but did not identify the shooter in his memoir.