Judge denies bid by the suspect in Tupac Shakur's killing for a new
trial in a jailhouse fight
[July 03, 2025]
By RIO YAMAT
LAS VEGAS (AP) — Duane “Keffe D” Davis, who is awaiting trial in the
1996 killing of rap icon Tupac Shakur, has lost a bid for a new trial in
a separate battery case tied to a jailhouse fight.
The ruling came Wednesday after a tense hearing in a Las Vegas courtroom
that underscored the high-profile status of the defendant and his
upcoming trial in one of hip-hop's most infamous crimes.
The jurors who convicted Davis of battery in the jailhouse fight were
put on the witness stand Wednesday. One by one, each of them denied
claims by Davis' son and a man who describes himself as a journalist
that they overheard one of the jurors talking about the battery case
during a lunch break ahead of deliberations.
Both Davis' son, Duane Davis Jr., and the self-described journalist,
Richard Bond, testified Wednesday about hearing the juror's comments in
the hallway outside of the courtroom on the final day of a two-day trial
in April.
“Those two witnesses do have a relationship and a bias and a motive to
testify in a certain way, whether subconsciously or not,” Clark County
District Judge Nadia Krall said while ruling from the bench.
It was revealed Wednesday when prosecutor Marc DiGiacomo questioned the
men separately that they considered each other friends, that Bond had
been sending money to both Duane Davis and his son, and that Bond had
advised them to fire their attorney, Carl Arnold.
“Ever taken a class on journalistic ethics?” DiGiacomo asked Bond.
“No, I have not taken a class on journalistic ethics," Bond said.
The fight in December 2024 in a common room was captured on security
video. Prosecutors said Davis was being escorted by a corrections
officer back to his unit when he and another man exchanged words and
then started fighting. Arnold said he was ambushed and acted in
self-defense.
DiGiacomo, who also is prosecuting Duane Davis in the Shakur killing,
said after court that he had no comment. A spokesperson for Arnold's
office also declined to comment.
Arnold said in court Wednesday that his client did not receive a fair
trial in the battery case because of the juror's apparent comments. The
juror himself denied it multiple times while on the witness stand.
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Defense attorney Carl Arnold speaks during a hearing on claims of
juror misconduct in the jailhouse battery case of Duane Davis, left,
at the Regional Justice Center Wednesday, July 2, 2025, in Las
Vegas. (L.E. Baskow/Las Vegas Review-Journal via AP, Pool)
 Wednesday's hearing was not the
first time that the credibility of those with ties to Davis has been
questioned in court.
Davis, the only person ever charged in Shakur's death, had sought to
be freed from custody shortly after his arrest in September 2023.
But a judge rejected his request, saying she suspected a cover-up of
the true source of funds for his bond.
A music record executive offering to underwrite Davis' $750,000 bail
at the time testified that he obtained the money legally and wanted
to help Davis because he's “always been a monumental person in our
community."
But the judge said she was skeptical after receiving two identical
letters apparently from an entertainment company that Cash “Wack
100” Jones says wired him the funds as payment for his work. One
letter was signed with a name that had no ties to the company, the
judge said, while the other included a misspelled name and a return
address tied to a doctor’s office.
Davis has pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder. He's accused of
orchestrating the fatal drive-by shooting of Shakur nearly 30 years
ago at a traffic light near the Las Vegas Strip.
Prosecutors say the evidence against Davis is strong, including his
own accounts of the shooting throughout the years in interviews and
a 2019 tell-all memoir. His trial is scheduled for February.
Shakur’s death at 25 came as his fourth solo album, “All Eyez on
Me,” remained on the charts, with some 5 million copies sold.
Nominated six times for a Grammy Award, Shakur is still largely
considered one of the most influential and versatile rappers of all
time.
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