Attorney for Tupac Murder Defendant Plans to Contest Verdict

Duane "Keffe D" Davis's lawyer, Michael Sanft, announced plans to appeal his client's first-degree murder conviction in the 1996 killing of Tupac Shakur. Sanft argues the judge improperly allowed jurors to hear statements from a 2008 proffer interview, which he calls highly prejudicial. Davis is scheduled to be sentenced on October 13, potentially to life in prison.

Davis’s conviction stems from the 1996 drive-by shooting of Tupac Shakur in Las Vegas, a case that remained cold for decades until Davis’s own statements in a 2008 proffer interview and his 2019 memoir became central to prosecutors’ arguments. Sanft maintains those statements were unreliable boasts made for street credibility, not confessions, and that the judge’s decision to admit them unfairly swayed the jury. The jury returned a guilty verdict in just two and a half hours, which Sanft suggests indicates they had already decided before deliberating the evidence thoroughly.

Beyond the appeal, Sanft’s immediate focus is on sentencing, set for October 13. Given Davis’s age—mid-60s—any prison term could effectively be a life sentence, so the defense will push for the minimum. The appeal itself will proceed after sentencing, with Sanft arguing the proffer interview should have been excluded as prejudicial. He also noted that pretrial motions, not jury selection, were where the case’s real battles were fought, hinting that legal errors may have occurred before testimony even began.