LAS VEGAS (AP) – A Nevada judge on Tuesday placed a former Los Angeles-area gang leader accused of orchestrating the 1996 murder of hip-hop legend Tupac Shakur on electronic monitoring ahead of his trial. He said he could be placed on house arrest and set bail at $750,000. for murder.
Duane “Kev D” Davis' public defender told The Associated Press after the judge's ruling that he believed Davis would be able to account for that amount. They are seeking bail of less than $100,000, and a requirement that the judge prepare a defense based on 20 years' worth of evidence could necessitate delaying the current June trial date. He pointed out that there is.
Man charged in 1996 Tupac Shakur murder
Clark County District Attorney Steve Wolfson told reporters that he expected Clark County District Judge Carly Keaney to hold a “source hearing” to determine whether bail was legally obtained. He said that The judge did not set a new trial date, but asked for a review of the situation on February 20th.
Prosecutors Binu Paral and Mark DiGiacomo said Tuesday that Davis never left gang life and that the fact that he had confessed for 15 years to his involvement in Shakur's murder showed he was guilty of murder. He claimed that a phone call to the jail in October suggested Davis posed a threat to witnesses. .
“One thing remains the same,” Parral told the judge. “Mr. Davis has consistently admitted to being the mastermind of the murders.”
DiGiacomo called Davis “a very, very dangerous person to the community.”
In his ruling, the judge acknowledged that Davis “made a living talking about his past life as the leader of the Southside Crips street gang in his hometown of Compton, California, and the murder of Mr. Shakur.” Graphic details. ”
Arroyo and co-counsel Charles Cano said police and prosecutors could have arrested Davis 15 years ago but failed to do so, and that the jail phone calls and list of names provided to Davis' family were He argued that the interpretation was a mistake by the prosecution. Defense attorneys said Davis and his family are at risk.
Arroyo and Cano said their client, a 60-year-old man, has been in declining health after a battle with cancer, but is now in remission and has no intention of fleeing to avoid trial.
They also discounted the evidence against Davis as unreliable because it was the product of stories told by witnesses with gang backgrounds, including the gun and car involved in the September 1996 drive-by shooting that killed Shakur. He pointed out that the prosecution lacked evidence.
Arroyo on Tuesday focused on what he called “obvious questions” dating back to 2008 and 2009, when Davis spoke with police in Los Angeles and Las Vegas. He wrote his revealing memoir in 2019 and began giving interviews on social media in which he described his own role as the gang's leader and “shotcaller” in Shakur's death.
“If his guilt is so great, what has been going on for 15 years?” Arroyo asked in court Tuesday. “Why did he wait 15 years to be arrested?”
Davis was arrested on September 29 outside his home in suburban Henderson, and Las Vegas police had been searching for him since mid-July. He pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder in November and is being held without bail at the Clark County Detention Center in Las Vegas, where detainees' phone calls are routinely recorded. If convicted at his trial, he could spend the rest of his life in prison.
Arroyo claimed Tuesday that his client's accounts in the “YouTube world” emphasize violence to attract viewers and make money.
“Conflict sells,” Arroyo said. “They're giving interviews and trying to hold their breath high and get clicks.”
Prosecutors argue that Davis' own words are strong evidence that he is responsible for the crime, even if he did not pull the trigger. DiGiacomo said other media interviews and others who described Davis' role to police corroborate his account.
Davis was the only person in the car that was struck and survived, Shakur was fatally wounded, and rap mogul Marion “Suge” Knight was also injured. Knight is serving 28 years in a California prison for an unrelated shooting in the Los Angeles area in 2015.
Davis' attorney noted that Knight was a witness to the Shakur shooting, but did not testify before the grand jury that indicted his client.
Davis was involved in the FBI and Los Angeles investigation into the 2008 murders of Shakur in Las Vegas and rival rapper Christopher Wallace, known as The Notorious B.I.G. or Biggie Smalls, in Los Angeles six months later. He claims to have been granted immunity from prosecution by the police's special investigation unit.
Mr. DiGiacomo and Mr. Parral said immunity agreements have limitations. Last week, they submitted to the court an audio recording of a December 2008 special committee interview in which Davis said that nothing said in the room could be used against him, but that other He said he was told that if he told anyone, it could be against him. You are in legal jeopardy.
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Davis' attorney responded by noting that a book was published 12 years ago written by former Los Angeles Police Department Detective Greg Kading, who was present at those interviews.
“Duane is not concerned because his alleged involvement in Shakur's death…has been public knowledge since 2011,” the lawyers said.
