The Person Charged With Killing Tupac Shakur Asks the Judge to Put Him Under House Arrest Instead of Jail Time Before His Trial
LAS VEGAS — A sick and old former gang boss from the Los Angeles area is going to ask a Nevada judge on Tuesday to change her mind and let him out of jail on house arrest before his trial for killing Tupac Shakur in 1996.
Carl Arnold, Duane “Keffe D” Davis’s lawyer, said in court documents that he has sent in more financial records since the meeting in June, where Davis’s request to be freed was turned down, to show that the money was legally obtained.
Arnold also said that Davis hasn’t been found guilty of a crime, so it doesn’t matter if he and Cash “Wack 100” Jones, a famous hip-hop musician who says he’ll pay Davis’ $750,000 bail, want to make money by selling Davis’ life story.
Arnold and a spokeswoman did not answer emails sent on Monday.
Nevada law says that killers who have been convicted can’t make money off of their crime.
In new court papers, prosecutors say Davis, 61, was “scheming… to obfuscate the source” of the $112,500 “gift” that Jones said he put up as a 15% guarantee to get Davis’ bail bond.
Jones has worked with artists like Johnathan “Blueface” Porter and Jayceon “The Game” Taylor. In June, Jones said in a videotaped statement that he was willing to pay Davis money because Davis had cancer and had “always been a monumental person in our community… especially the urban community.”
Clark County District Court Judge Carli Kierny said on June 26 that she wasn’t sure Davis and Jones weren’t trying to make money. The judge also said she couldn’t be sure that Jones wasn’t giving money to a loan guarantee company for someone else who wasn’t named.
Arnold said in new court papers that Davis hasn’t been found guilty yet, so he can’t be stopped from making money. The defense lawyer also wrote that worries about where the bail money came from are “not legally relevant” since Davis and Jones do not have a contract for a “movie, series, or any other form of media production.”
Prosecutors said that a judge can make any rule they think is necessary to make sure a suspect shows up for trial. They said that Davis would have no reason to follow court orders or show up for his trial, which is set to start on November 4, if he could post a “gift” for release.
Davis has been trying to get out of jail since soon after he was arrested in September of last year. He has pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder, and if found guilty, he could spend the rest of his life in jail. In January, Kierny set the bail at $750,000. He is from Compton, California, but he now lives in Henderson, which is close to Las Vegas.
Prosecutors say Davis’s own words, including those in his 2019 “tell-all” book and in talks with police and the media, are strong proof that he killed Shakur. They say they have statements from other people that back up what Davis said.
Police say Davis was killed because he was competing with members of the Bloods gang on the East Coast and the Crips on the West Coast for control of a musical style called “gangsta rap” at the time.
Shakur had five No. 1 records, was nominated for six Grammys, and was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2017. He was 25 years old when he died.