LAS VEGAS (CN) — It took prosecutors 27 years to bring charges in the killing of hip-hop legend Tupac Shakur, but arraignment proceedings lasted just two minutes on Wednesday as Duane Keith “Kefee D” Davis appeared at the Regional Justice Center.
Known to fans as 2Pac, Shakur is widely recognized as one of the most influential rappers of all time, though he was just 25 years old when he was shot to death in the mid-1990s near the Las Vegas Strip.
Davis was the first defendant for the day’s proceedings to address the judge.
Bailiffs escorted the 60-year-old self-proclaimed Compton Crip gang shot-caller, shackled and donning a dark blue jail-issued jumpsuit, into the courtroom.
“Mr. Davis, sir, have you retained counsel to represent you in this case?” Judge Tierra Jones asked.
“Yes ma'am,” Davis answered. He told the judge he was represented by Edi Faal of Los Angeles, and that Faal needed two weeks to get up to speed on the case. Jones set a new arraignment for Oct. 19 at 9 a.m.
Davis is being held without bail.
“We will continue to ask for no bail setting,” Clark County District Attorney Steve Wolfson said Wednesday.
Back in 1993, when Faal was representing Damian Williams, who was facing charges in the Reginald Denny beating during the riots in Los Angeles, where 50 people were killed and 2,300 were injured, the Los Angeles Times gave Faal a glowing report, calling him a “defender of underdogs” and “rising legal star.” Two calls to Faals’ office were not returned.
After the proceeding, Wolfson addressed a throng of reporters at the courthouse.
“This morning, Duane Keith Davis made his first court appearance here in Las Vegas pursuant to the indictment which was returned last week charging Mr. Davis with open murder with the use of a deadly weapon,” Wolfson said.
“I want to say first off, Mr. Davis enjoys, like any other person in this country charged with a crime, the presumption of innocence,” Wolfson continued.
Shakur was gunned down at 11:15 p.m. Sept. 7, 1996 in a hail of bullets on Koval Lane and East Flamingo Road, a block east of the Strip. He was a passenger in a BMW driven by Marion “Suge” Knight, CEO of Death Row Records. The pair, along with their entourage, had watched the Mike Tyson versus Bruce Seldon heavyweight boxing match earlier that night at the MGM Grand. Shakur died six days later.
Wolfson was asked why it took so many years to make an arrest.
“Well, it’s a cold case. It’s been lingering for 27 years. I felt there was sufficient, legally admissible evidence to move forward. That’s why we presented it to a grand jury. The grand jury agreed there was probable cause to return an indictment," he said.
The district attorney acknowledged that nearly three decades of delay complicates the case.
“Any case that’s 27 years old sometimes presents some challenges," Wolfson said. "We feel very confident in our criminal justice system. This is an important case. We wanted to make sure we get it right. We wanted to make sure we have legally admissible evidence.”
Davis was arrested Sept. 29 while he was taking a morning walk near his home in Henderson.
On July 17 authorities raided the house, executing a search warrant, and seized an iPhone, laptops, a desktop computer and photographs.
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