The possibility that jurors might hear Keefe D explain his own accounts of Tupac Shakur’s killing ended Thursday without a word from him. His attorneys rested their case after calling three former Las Vegas police officers, leaving the murder trial headed for closing arguments Monday. This puts the nearly 30-year-old case one step away from jury deliberations.
Davis had been told Wednesday that he needed to decide whether to exercise his right to testify after prosecutors finished presenting their case. That question carried unusual weight because so much of the state’s evidence came from Davis himself. Jurors have spent the trial hearing his past descriptions of the September 1996 shooting through recorded interviews and other statements, while defense attorney Michael Sanft has maintained that his client exaggerated his involvement for attention and money. By resting Thursday without calling Davis, the defense chose to let that argument stand without subjecting him to cross-examination, reports AP News.
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A Trial That Has Divided Hip Hop
Sanft spent the defense’s brief presentation returning to gaps in the decades-old investigation. Two former officers testified about working near Suge Knight’s Las Vegas home on the night Shakur was shot. They recalled vehicles moving through the area, including a cream or white Cadillac. The defense then called retired homicide detective Dan Long, who investigated Shakur’s death and interviewed Davis years later.
Under questioning from prosecutors, Long said Davis identified the same four men investigators had already believed were inside the Cadillac when Shakur was shot. Long also testified that after speaking with Davis in 2009, he returned to Vegas believing there was enough evidence to seek a murder warrant. Prosecutors at the time told him not to proceed while the matter was under review.
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Prosecutors rested Wednesday after calling roughly two dozen witnesses. Their case portrayed Shakur’s killing as retaliation for the MGM Grand fight in which the rapper and others attacked Orlando Anderson, Davis’s nephew. The state contends Davis helped arrange the response and supplied the gun later used when a Cadillac pulled alongside the BMW carrying Shakur and Knight. Davis has pleaded not guilty and denies participating in the murder.
After nine days of testimony, both sides are now finished presenting evidence. Jurors are scheduled to return Monday morning for closing arguments and will begin deliberating afterward. Davis faces life in prison if convicted.
