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Lawyer for man accused of killing rap icon Tupac Shakur In 1996, they were working to suppress evidence obtained in what they called an “illegal nighttime raid.”
las vegas Criminal defense attorneys Robert Draskovich and William Brown filed a motion this week on behalf of their client, Duane “Keffe D.” daviswho is accused of a drive-by shooting of the iconic rapper on the Las Vegas Strip.
Davis’ attorneys argued that the judge relied on a “misleading characterization” of Davis as a dangerous drug dealer to approve the search warrant at night, and that the warrant should only be executed in special circumstances, such as where evidence might disappear if police waited until morning.
In fact, Davis’ attorneys say he is a former gang leader from Southern California who left the drug industry in 2008 and began doing inspection work for refineries. He is a 60-year-old retired cancer survivor with adult children and grandchildren who had lived with his wife in Henderson, a suburb of Las Vegas, for nine years when the warrant was executed.
“The court was not informed of 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 — in other words, a manifestly incorrect factual determination.”
this Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department The company, which conducted a search and collected Davis’ electronic devices, “alleged marijuana” and a barrel of photos, declined to comment Friday, citing the pending litigation. Police said executing a search warrant under the cover of darkness would have allowed officers to surround and secure the residence while searching, and if Davis had barricaded himself, the darkness would have allowed officers to evacuate surrounding homes with minimal contact with residents.
Davis was arrested in September 2023. He pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder and sought release shortly after his arrest.
His attorney claims Davis’ arrest stemmed from false public statements Davis made in which he claimed he was present wearing white clothing Cadillac Shakur was shot from it. They said he never provided details that would confirm he was in the car and that he benefited greatly from saying he was there. He evaded drug charges by telling the story in a bid agreement and made money by repeating the story in a documentary and a 2019 book, according to his attorneys.
“Think of it this way: Shakur’s murder was essentially the entertainment world’s JFK assassination — endlessly dissected, mythologized, and monetized — so it’s easy to see why someone in Davis’s position might have mistakenly placed himself at the center of it all for personal gain,” his attorneys wrote.