Overview
- Judge Carli Kierny ruled Tuesday that a 2008 recorded police interview of Duane “Keffe D” Davis is admissible at his murder trial.
- Davis is charged in the 1996 killing of Tupac Shakur, faces a possible sentence of life without parole, and the trial is scheduled to begin August 10 and run about four weeks.
- Earlier rulings also preserved as evidence Davis’s 2019 memoir and other recorded statements, which prosecutors say show he was in the Cadillac that night and supplied the gun.
- The defense has pressed aggressive pretrial motions arguing the 2008 interview was treated as confidential, was made under pressure, and that some public comments were publicity or protected speech, and it has sought dismissal and a written apology.
- With other alleged participants dead, Davis is the only surviving person tied to the vehicle and the case now hinges on how jurors weigh his prior interviews and book passages amid heavy media exposure.