Overview
- Duane “Keffe D” Davis is on trial in Las Vegas on a single murder count that alleges he supplied the weapon used in the 1996 drive-by that killed Tupac Shakur; he is not accused of firing the shots and faces a possible life term if convicted.
- This week jurors heard a previously unreleased 2008 LAPD interview in which Davis says he sat in the front passenger seat of the white Cadillac, identified other occupants and says he passed a loaded gun to the back seat.
- Prosecutors are framing the shooting as retaliation for Orlando “Baby Lane” Anderson’s beating at the MGM Grand, but the case lacks a recovered gun or Cadillac and several key alleged participants are dead or unreachable.
- Witness testimony has been often hostile or reluctant, with several former gang associates refusing to cooperate and Gene Deal saying authorities are pressing him to testify about a reported connection between Davis and Sean “Diddy” Combs; Combs denies any involvement and has not been charged.
- Courtroom scenes this week included a heated outburst from Davis about his family’s safety and testimony showing MGM Grand surveillance and autopsy findings, and the trial is expected to continue for several more weeks with credibility of Davis’s prior statements at the center.