Key Insights
- Keffe D’s Defense: Attorneys argue that the evidence against Duane Davis was obtained through an unlawful nighttime search.
- Misleading Information: The defense claims the judge was misled about Davis’s character, impacting the search warrant approval.
- Police Justification: Law enforcement stated that executing the warrant at night was necessary for safety and security.
- Charges and Claims: Duane Davis has pleaded not guilty and disputes claims of his presence at the crime scene.
The attorneys for the man accused of killing rap icon Tupac Shakur in 1996 are pushing to suppress evidence. Lawyers for Duane ‘Keffe D’ Davis claim that law enforcement obtained their evidence through an “unlawful nighttime search.”
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Keffe D Fights Back Against Search That Led To His Arrest
Las Vegas criminal defense attorneys Robert Draskovich and William Brown filed a motion this week on behalf of their client, Keffe D. He was charged in the drive-by shooting of Tupac Shakur off the Las Vegas Strip.
Keffe’s attorneys argue that a judge relied on a “misleading portrait” of Davis as a dangerous drug dealer to grant the execution of a search warrant at night. Night searches should only be done in exceptional circumstances. An example: if there’s a risk that evidence will disappear if officers wait until morning.
When the search warrant was executed, Keffe D was long retired from street life, according to his lawyers. In reality, Duane Davis had left the narcotics trade in 2008 and began doing inspection work for oil refineries, per his attorneys. He was a 60-year-old retired cancer survivor with adult children and grandchildren. Additionally, he had been living with his wife in Henderson, a city outside of Las Vegas.
“The court wasn’t told any of this,” his attorneys wrote in the motion. “As a result, the court authorized a nighttime search based on a portrait of Davis that bore little resemblance to reality — a clearly erroneous factual determination, in other words.”
Police Department Declines To Comment On Motion
The Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department conducted the search and collected Duane Davis’ electronic devices, “purported marijuana” and tubs of photographs. It declined to comment Friday, citing the pending litigation.
At the time of the search, police said executing the warrant under the cover of darkness would allow officers to surround and secure the residence. They also argued that if Davis barricaded himself, the darkness would allow officers to evacuate the surrounding homes with the least exposure to residents. Police arrested Keffe D in September 2023.
Lawyers Say There’s No Evidence Davis Was In White Cadillac
Duane Davis pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder and sought to be released shortly after his arrest. His attorneys claim Davis’ arrest stems from false public statements Davis had made. In those statements, Keffe D claimed to be present in the white Cadillac that shot at Tupac Shakur. They say he has never offered details that would firmly corroborate his presence in the car. Additionally, they stated that he benefited from claiming he was present.
“Think of it this way: Shakur’s murder was essentially the entertainment world’s JFK assassination — endlessly dissected, mythologized, monetized — 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,” his attorneys wrote.
Keffe D dodged drug charges by telling the story in a proffer agreement. Also, he has made money by repeating it in documentaries and his 2019 book, according to his attorneys. He sought to dismiss his murder charges in the Nevada Supreme Court, but in November, his petition was denied.
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Associated Press writer Jessica Hill contributed to this report via AP Newsroom.
