Here’s a defense strategy you don’t see every day: telling jurors your client is full of it.
At the murder trial of Duane "Keffe D" Davis, the former gang leader accused of helping orchestrate Tupac Shakur’s 1996 killing, defense lawyer Michael Sanft argued that jurors should treat Davis’ own highly publicized admissions that led to his arrest with skepticism. His opening statement featured a slide with a single word: “BULLSHIT.”
That’s significant because the prosecutors’ case relies heavily on Davis’ statements in media interviews and his 2019 memoir, where he described being in the car with Tupac’s attackers and passing the gun to the backseat shooters. Police have called him the plot’s “mastermind.”
The defense is essentially arguing that Davis was spinning stories for attention and book sales, not confessing to a crime. Legal observers say it may be his strongest argument, but it comes with a catch: once you tell jurors your client is a liar, convincing them to believe his new version of events becomes much harder.
The closely watched Las Vegas trial is expected to last several weeks and could finally bring long-awaited answers in one of music history’s most famous unsolved killings.
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