Crime Fix with Angenette Levy - Tupac Shakur Murder Suspect Duane ‘Keefe D’ Davis Wants to Be Released From Jail

Episode Date: December 21, 2023

The man accused of ordering the murder of rapper Tupac Shakur in 1996 is asking a judge to let him out of jail as he awaits trial. Attorneys for Duane "Keefe D" Davis say he's in poor health, knew he was going to be indicted and didn't run. The Law&Crime Network's Angenette Levy talks with Las Vegas criminal defense attorney Adrian Lobo about Davis' request and his attorneys' claims in this episode of Crime Fix.PLEASE SUPPORT THE SHOW:Use code HOLIDAYS23 for an exclusive holiday discount for the Whiskey Raiders Bottle of the Month Club! Join here: whiskeyraiders.com/bottle-of-the-month-club/See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Wondery Plus subscribers can binge all episodes of this law and crimes series ad-free right now. Join Wondery Plus in the Wondery app, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify. Sir, are you familiar with the one charge that you're facing? Yes, ma'am. Do you understand that charge? Yes, ma'am. As to that charge, how do you plead, guilty or not guilty? Not guilty.

The man accused of ordering the murder of rapper Tupac Shakur in 1996 wants a judge to let him out of jail on bail as he awaits trial. Wayne Davis, even talking about Tupac's murder in several interviews and in a book. The man whose street name is Keefie D says the prosecutor relied on witnesses with questionable credibility to get an indictment. I'm Anjanette Levy. It's Thursday and this is Crime Fix. Dwayne Davis, we'll just keep calling him Keefie D because that's how he's known on the street, is asking the judge in Las Vegas to let him out of jail on his own recognizance. He's in the Clark County Jail on a murder charge for the death of Tupac Shakur. Just to bring you up to speed, Keefie D was a higher up in the Southside Compton Crips in the 90s and a big-time drug dealer when Tupac Shakur was shot to death while riding in a BMW driven by

Death Row Records CEO Marion Shug Knight in Las Vegas. Prosecutors say Keefie D ordered Tupac's murder after he and other members of the Death Row Records entourage jumped Keefie D's nephew, Orlando Anderson, at the MGM Grand after the Mike Tyson fight. Witnesses said the Death Row guys, including Tupac, jumped Anderson because members of the Southside Compton Crips, including Orlando Anderson, had tried to steal a death row records chain from a Bloods gang member at a mall in California weeks prior. So Orlando Anderson getting jumped really made Keefie D and Orlando mad, according to prosecutors. So they said Keefie D got a gun from a friend and he, Anderson and two other guys in his crew, DeAndre Big Dre Smith and Terrence Bubble Up Brown, tracked down Tupac and Suge Knight at Flamingo and Koval. Bobby Ladd was in the gang unit with the Compton Police Department back then.

We had a network of informants ourselves in Compton. So we were getting calls from all of our informants saying, hey, man, we're hearing it's Orlando was a shooter. Keefy D was in the car along with Bubble Up and Big Dre. That was most information we were getting. So when we exchanged information with Las Vegas, they kind of got similar information. So that was the first time that we're able to say, hey, these are the people that were involved. So four days after the shooting, you guys have the information and Vegas has the information about Orlando, Kifidi, Bubble Up and Big Dre. Yes, that's when we found out about the White Cadillac and that was used in the crime. So we started exchanging information about what we were getting, too, because everybody said that, you know, Orlando Anderson was down here.

He was bragging about doing the shooting. Even so, it would take 27 years to get an indictment because witnesses just weren't talking. Orlando Anderson was killed about a year and a half after the shooting of Tupac Shakur. Then DeAndre Smith and Terrence Brown, they also died. Suge Knight certainly wasn't talking to the cops. Then in 2018, Kifidi actually started granting interviews. Here he is on BET's Death Row Chronicles. Who shot Tupac?

The keeper for the cold of the streets. He just came from the backseat. Shockingly, Kipi D also wrote a book about tossing the Glock into the backseat in his 2019 book, Compton Street Legend. Fast forward to 2023, and Kipi D was indicted for Tupac's murder. Now, his lawyers say prosecutors relied on things like hearsay testimony from witnesses with questionable credibility to get that indictment. One a former gang member, the other Reggie Wright, a former Compton police officer who also provided security to Death Row Records. Joining me to talk about Keefie D's motion for bail is somebody who knows the court system in Las Vegas very well. She's criminal defense attorney

Adrienne Lobo. Adrienne, thanks for coming on Crime Fix. We appreciate it. Thank you for having me. What are your thoughts about this motion for bail? Basically, Kifidi's lawyers are saying the state's case is built on hearsay and testimony from questionable witnesses. That's who testified at the grand jury. He knew he was getting indicted. He didn't flee. He should get bail. Right. So I think you can't talk about bail, right, without talking about whether or not like the strength and the weaknesses of the case. Right? And that's what the judge is going to be looking at in this instance. So I think that the motion alludes to, you know, that there's some credibility issues at play and hearsay that was

presented. That being said, one of the things that was not highlighted in this motion was that there wasn't like any sort of forensics evidence that was displayed or highlighted in their arguments or motions. So that's one factor, even though it's not explicitly laid out in the motion. But really, it's about the seriousness of the charge and how strong or weak that evidence is. And in this case, it appears that the defense is making the argument that there's some credibility issues with the witnesses. One thing I thought was interesting is that they argued, you know, Keefie D. may have been giving interviews about this, but it was also very lucrative for him to give interviews. So they're almost saying that, you know, their guy is, you know, might have made stuff up or maybe isn't responsible for what was written in the

book with his name on it. What are your thoughts about that? Right. Well, I think, you know, the defense has, you know, I think three main areas to attack in terms of statements that were given. One of those being like the proffer. And then the other one being the book that you mentioned, and then the YouTube videos. And in those three different ones, it seems as though like you are absolutely correct. They're making the argument essentially that, hey, maybe this was exaggerated. It was embellished a bit for obvious purposes because he was profiting off of it. While it's not palpable, that's at least a little bit easier for a jury to understand that at some point, maybe he thought that he could profit off of it. And hey,

they bring it up very pointedly that this is after Kading, the LA detective, had already been profiting off of it and had written his own book. One thing that Kifidi's attorneys point out is the fact that they say their client believed that he had immunity because he had been involved in this proffer in which he explained what happened the night that Tupac Shakur died. But that didn't mean just because he had immunity in that proffer that he could walk outside of that room and then start telling stories about the night that Tupac Shakur died and not face consequences. Right. And I think they addressed it in the sense of making an argument about equity, saying that Kading was the first person to essentially break

the rules of the proffer, which in my opinion is a little bit more egregious given the fact that we have a law enforcement officer. And I don't know what sort of authorization former detective had to get to do that. However, that being said, they definitely pointed the finger and said, well, hey, what's good for the goose is good for the gander. And essentially saying, well, they broke the rules first. And so he was just essentially, you know, tagging on to what former detective Kading had already done. Give the gift of whiskey this holiday season with the Whiskey Raiders Bottle of the Month Club. Each month, the experts at Whiskey Raiders send a full-size bottle of delicious rare whiskey to everyone in the club. A subscription to this club is the perfect holiday gift for the whiskey lover

in your life who's interested in trying new exciting bottles and learning about what they're drinking. Sign up for the club at www.whiskeyraiders.com or by clicking the link pinned in the comments below. And this month only, you can use the promo code HOLIDAYS23 for an exclusive holiday discount on your purchase. And Greg Kating, of course, was part of that task force looking into Biggie Smalls' murder. And then they kind of went into this area. They kind of got information about this as it related to Biggie Smalls' murder. And that's how they ended up into the proffer. We've covered this really extensively here on Law and Crime, so we won't get too much into the weeds on that. It is an interesting point, though, that Keefie D., he did his time in federal prison

for dealing lots of drugs. He gets out. As far as we know, he's living in Vegas, Henderson, Nevada, for a long time. He's not getting in any trouble. He's giving all these interviews he should not have been giving. I'm sure an attorney would have told him not to do that. But he wasn't getting into any trouble. He's 60-some-odd years old. He's not in great health. So do you think this is somebody that maybe the judge will say, okay, put up $100,000. We'll slap an electronic monitoring bracelet on you, and you can stay home until you go to trial.

You know, that's a really great point. I think there's definitely grounds for the court to find that way and find that there's the least restrictive means. In Nevada, we have new case law, meaning essentially that it was cited in the motion that there's a case by our Nevada Supreme Court, Valdez Jimenez. So the court has a duty to find the least restrictive means. However, a little bit different that kind of the court has to also address at the same time, which the state will likely be making the argument is that proof is for the presumption of guilt is great and proof is evidence, meaning that it's a foregone conclusion. In this case, I don't really think that's probably the strongest argument just based on the motion and reading it in that way. And of course, the defense is going to write it

in such a way that is the most favorable to them. But I think that there is grounds for finding the least restrictive means. As you pointed out, he is very ill, it seems, and that he's had health challenges. And that could be an issue that bears down. He's also in his 60s. We're not talking about somebody who's actively out there gangbanging. I don't think at 60-something years old that he is claiming the Compton Crips at all. And I don't think that that's a concern. And if they're going to say the seriousness of the charge, it has to actually relate, right? How that seriousness of the charge will impair any sort of risk to the community

and also secure his appearance in court. And so those are the two things and you have to be able to tie it. You just can't make a blanket statement saying it's a murder case because otherwise nobody would get bail. So I think there is some ground. And I think that the court certainly could find that there are at least restrictive means and possibly give money bail too for that. Interesting. So what do we expect to happen then on January 2nd when this hearing is held? Will there be testimony

from witnesses or is the judge just going to hear arguments? Usually it's just arguments, unless there's something that would be, and it would have to be attached to the motions too, right? The moving papers. And so at this point, it seems as though it's going to be arguments. I don't believe that there's going to be any live testimony. There was at least one character letter. I'm sure there will be a showing of support in the courtroom for Mr. Davis, but I don't believe so. This isn't the sort of case that necessarily would lend itself to calling in witnesses

for this sort of hearing. Adrienne Lobo, thank you so much for coming on Crime Fix. We appreciate it. Thank you so much. And that's it for this edition of Crime Fix on Thursday, December 21st, 2023. I'm Anjanette Levy. We appreciate you tuning in. We'll be back here tomorrow night. Until then, have a great night.