Duane “Keefe D” Davis has been denied bail since he was first arrested and charged with murder in September in connection with the killing of Tupac Shakur 27 years ago. Last week, his lawyers filed a motion asking that the 60-year-old be released pending the trial, which is scheduled to begin on June 3. Davis' legal representatives are also asking the court to set a “reasonable bond,” according to KTNV Las Vegas.
“Duane should not be denied bail in this case. “It cannot be said that the proof is clear and the presumption strong that Duane is guilty of first-degree murder for Shakur's death,” the motion, filed Thursday, states. “This Court should release Duane to house arrest with electronic monitoring pending trial.”
Davis is represented by special public defenders Robert Arroyo and Charles Cano. He previously lost a bid to hire Ross Goodman, a private defense attorney. The bail request urges the court to set an amount not to exceed $100,000 based on the fact that a “surprising amount of hearsay and speculative testimony” emerged during the jury trial.
Lawyers pushed back on the state's support of excerpts from Compton Street Legend, Davis' memoir he published in 2019, claiming his words were merely “entertainment.” The book essentially cemented his involvement in the shooting, which police in Las Vegas and Los Angeles have been investigating for nearly three decades. They also claimed that Davis has “moved on from his old lifestyle,” having settled in Henderson over the past decade.
“He doesn't do his bimonthly oncology exams. In addition, his heart health has deteriorated. They put him back on a group of drugs to try to get things under control,” Davis' lawyers said in the motion, adding his health to the list of reasons for their request. “He has to take these drugs in prison because he cannot do what is necessary to maintain his proper health. His diet in prison is terrible. He is fed heavily processed sodium-laden meals that barely pass as food.”
Davis, a former street gang leader, pleaded not guilty in November. And while the police do not suspect that he was the triggerman, he is positioned as the leader of the group that carried out the murder of the rapper. Of the suspects in the case — which included Davis' nephew Orlando Anderson, Terry Brown and Deidre Smith — Davis is the only survivor. Las Vegas prosecutors are not seeking the death penalty for Davis, who could spend the rest of his life in prison if convicted.
