Just days before his trial is set to begin, the man accused of orchestrating Tupac Shakur’s murder is making a last-ditch legal move that has stunned observers: demanding the case be thrown out and an apology from prosecutors.
Duane “Keefe D” Davis, 63, has spent nearly three years behind bars after being charged with the legendary rapper’s 1996 killing. But his lawyer now argues the entire prosecution is built on shaky ground—and that Davis’ own repeated confessions were nothing more than a man exercising his free speech.
Attorney Mike Sanft is firing back hard, insisting the Clark County district attorney’s office rushed to charge his client with flimsy evidence. He claims the investigation was “half baked and impure” and that no proper due diligence was done before Davis was ripped from his home and jailed.
Sanft says the only acceptable deal from prosecutors right now is a full dismissal, along with a written apology from DA Steve Wolfson for ever bringing the case. He argues Davis’ admissions—made to police, in a memoir, and on podcasts—were just a bid for fame and fortune, not a confession to murder.
Davis has been described as being in good spirits and optimistic about the trial scheduled for August 10. He reportedly will not take the stand himself. Sanft acknowledges the challenge of seating a fair jury in a case that has been dissected in documentaries, podcasts, and headlines for decades.
The lawyer pushed back on any notion that a plea deal was offered, despite rumors of a possible 15-year sentence. He insisted the only just outcome is for the state to admit it got it wrong.
Both sides are due back in court Tuesday, with jury selection looming. The world has been waiting for answers in Tupac’s murder for nearly three decades—but could the case against the man who says he was there actually fall apart before it even begins?
