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Duane "Keefe D" Davis is adamant about appealing his conviction following the 2Pac murder trial.
A jury in Las Vegas found the 63-year-old former gang member guilty of first-degree murder with use of a deadly weapon following closing arguments on Monday, August 31. The jury took 90 minutes to deliberate the verdict, but it only took seconds for Davis to announce his plans to appeal the ruling. Right after the verdict was read, Davis asked when he could get his personal belongings back, including his laptop and phone.
"And I would like to appeal this matter," he said to the judge.
The trial lasted for 10 days and featured testimony from 27 witnesses. Prosecutors argued that Davis obtained a gun and orchestrated the violent shooting of Shakur and Marion "Suge" Knight after the rapper fought with Davis' nephew, Orlando Anderson, at the MGM Grand on the night of September 7, 1996.
Despite claims from the defense, Davis' previous accounts of the night in question put him inside the vehicle along with the alleged shooter. He previously boasted about witnessing the shooting from the front seat in his book and past interviews. Davis' sentencing is scheduled for October 13. He could spend the rest of his life in prison, but his defense attorney, Michael Sanft, says his battle isn't over yet.
“We were preparing for the appeal, so even Mr. Davis knew that going in,” Sanft told NBC News. “Even before the first set of jurors came in for jury selection, we knew it was going to be an appeal issue.”
Sanft plans to focus on the judge's decision to allow the jury to hear Davis' interview with police. Davis entered into a proffer agreement with federal investigators in 2008 during an investigation into the murder of Christopher Wallace a.k.a. The Notorious B.I.G. He agreed to share what he saw on the night of 2Pac's murder only if he wouldn't face charges over it.
Prosecutors played his statements to police in court and highlighted similar statements in his 2019 book and past interviews. However, Sanft maintains the prosecution failed to produce independent evidence that Davis was there that night and argued that his client made up his version of events for money.