Keffe D suffers legal setback before Tupac murder trial

Two of Duane Keith “Keffe D” Davis' recent motions have been denied as his trial for Tupac Shakur's 1996 shooting death nears.

During a readiness hearing on Tuesday, June 30, a Las Vegas judge shut down Davis' legal team's requests to sequester the jury and suppress evidence, according to ABC News and local Fox and CBS affiliate outlets. The trial is scheduled to begin in August, 30 years after the rapper was killed in a drive-by shooting.

Davis was indicted in September 2023 on one count of murder with a deadly weapon with the intent to promote, further or assist a criminal gang. Prosecutors allege that he is the person who instructed the South Side Crips street gang in Compton, California, to shoot Shakur from their Cadillac, making Davis responsible despite not pulling the trigger.

Duane Davis has pleaded not guilty

Davis denied wrongdoing and later had petitioned to exclude public statements to police and a confession published in a book he co-wrote in 2019 titled “Compton Street Legend: Notorious Keffe D’s Street-Level Accounts of Tupac and Biggie Murders, Death Row Origins, Suge Knight, Puffy Combs, and Crooked Cops." In it, Davis admitted to being in the car and providing the gun resulting in Shakur's death.

Davis' defense argued he made an "involuntary confession" in police interviews conducted in 2008 and 2009 when he was "in a position that he was afraid for himself and his family," according to KVVU-TV. They also said Davis' recount of the incident in the book could have been misrepresented because he had a co-author.

Prosecutors pushed back, reportedly saying "everything" in the book should be admissible because Davis "chose to release it to the public and profit off it.” They added that he was able to review the manuscript and approved it prior to publishing.

“Had Mr. Davis never opened his mouth, never written the book, he would probably not have been prosecuted for the crime,” a prosecutor said.

The judge ultimately ruled in the prosecutions favor, further denying Davis' other motion to fully sequester the jury. However, the judge granted a “part and parcel” sequestration with terms to be determined closer to trial.

Contributing: Gina Barton, USA TODAY