Duane “Keefe D” Davis won’t face trial for Tupac Shakur’s murder in June as originally planned. A Nevada judge pushed back the trial’s start date to November 4 at a hearing on Tuesday (February 20).
Judge Carli Kierny delayed the trial due to Keefe D’s new lawyer Carl Arnold needing more time for discovery in the case. Keefe D’s next hearing is scheduled for April 23, but he may return to court sooner as he attempts to secure bail.
Arnold expressed confidence in Keefe D getting released on bail. Judge Kierny set Keefe D’s bail at $75,000. The judge required a source hearing to make sure his bail money was obtained with legitimate funds.
“He’s not concerned about making bail,” Keefe D’s attorney told reporters. “Bail will be made. What he was concerned about is just the media attention because the judge ordered a source hearing. And in that source hearing, someone’s gonna have to come forward and testify in regards to where the money came from. They just don’t want to be put on the news. He has family members that you guys haven’t taken pictures of and everything. They just want to maintain their privacy. So that’s why he has those concerns.”
Last year, Keefe D was arrested for Tupac’s 1996 murder. Prosecutors accused Keefe D of being the shot caller behind Tupac’s death. The prosecution cited Keefe D’s memoir and various interviews as evidence of him admitting his role in the murder.
Keefe D maintained his innocence, pleading not guilty to murder. The ex-gang leader claimed he only talked about Tupac’s murder to make money.
“Right now, the state hasn’t provided any evidence to corroborate the statement that he’s given,” his lawyer said. “I’ll give you an example. I can sit here all day long and say, ‘I shot JFK’ … But would I be convicted of that? Absolutely not.”
Reporters asked Arnold why he agreed to represent Keefe D at Tuesday’s hearing. The attorney mentioned the high-profile nature of the case as part of its appeal.
“It’s the biggest case since O.J. [Simpson],” Arnold said. “Why wouldn’t you want to take this case on? I mean it’s gonna be a historic case. I think it’s a challenge again with the statements that already came out. And to win this case would be quite an accomplishment.”
Arnold told reporters he would present a “sophisticated defense” at the trial. The lawyer also said prosecutors were “ridiculous” for calling Keefe D a danger to society in their efforts to keep him in jail.