Defence attorneys for the man charged with the 1996 murder of rap legend Tupac Shakur have launched a legal bid to throw out key evidence, branding the police search that obtained it as an unlawful night-time operation.
Motion Filed Against 'Misleading' Warrant
This week, Las Vegas lawyers Robert Draskovich and William Brown filed a motion on behalf of their client, Duane 'Keffe D' Davis. Davis was arrested in September 2023 and has pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder for the iconic rapper's drive-by shooting near the Las Vegas Strip.
The motion argues that a judge approved a search warrant for a night-time raid based on a 'misleading portrait' of Davis as a dangerous drug dealer. Under law, such searches after 10 p.m. are reserved for exceptional circumstances, like an imminent risk of evidence being destroyed.
His lawyers contend the court was not told that Davis, a former gang leader from Southern California, had left the drug trade in 2008. At the time of the search in 2022, he was a 60-year-old retired cancer survivor, working in oil refinery inspection and living quietly with his wife in Henderson for nine years.
Police Justification and Defence Counterclaims
The Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department, which executed the warrant and seized electronic devices, alleged marijuana, and photo tubs, declined to comment citing ongoing litigation. Initially, police justified the night raid by stating darkness would help officers secure the residence and safely evacuate neighbours if Davis barricaded himself.
Davis's defence team strongly disputes this. 'The court authorised a nighttime search based on a portrait of Davis that bore little resemblance to reality,' they wrote, calling the decision 'clearly erroneous.'
A Case Built on 'Monetised' Stories?
The defence further claims Davis's arrest stems largely from his own public boasts. They state he has repeatedly claimed—in a proffer agreement to dodge drug charges, in documentaries, and in his 2019 book—that he was present in the white Cadillac from which Shakur was shot.
However, they argue he has never provided firm details corroborating his presence and has financially benefited from the story. 'Think of it this way: Shakur’s murder was essentially the entertainment world’s JFK assassination... so it’s not hard to see why someone in Davis’s position might falsely place himself at the center of it all for personal gain,' the motion states.
Davis has sought release since shortly after his arrest. The latest motion to suppress evidence marks a critical pre-trial manoeuvre in one of music history's most enduring cold cases.
