In court today
• The latest: The trial of Duane Keith Davis, who is charged with one count of murder with a deadly weapon in the death of hip-hop legend Tupac Shakur, is underway in Las Vegas. The jury has heard testimony from a former homicide detective who was called to the scene of the fatal shooting. Several of Shakur’s family members are also present in the courtroom.
• Opening statements: Both sides gave opening statements this morning, with prosecutors calling Shakur’s 1996 killing “an act of revenge” and saying Davis showed “visceral anger” at Shakur for years. Meanwhile, the defense argued there is a lack of facts in the case.
• About the charges: Prosecutors do not claim Davis fired the shots that killed Shakur 30 years ago, but instead allege he orchestrated the killing in retaliation for an assault on his nephew. Davis, 63, has pleaded not guilty.
The jury in the Tupac murder trial is partially sequestered. What does that mean?
Jurors is this trial are partially sequestered, which means they are heavily guarded and isolated during the day, but are free to return to their homes at the end of each day of court, up until final deliberations.
In high-profile cases, like this one, even though jurors are instructed not to look at any media reports, it can still happen, defense attorney and former prosecutor Mark Eiglarsh said.
“To the extent that they could be at least partially sequestered, it hopefully shields them from things they should not be considering. They should only be focused on the evidence and the law given,” Eiglarsh told CNN.
Court is in a short break
Judge Carli Kierny just announced court is taking a 15 recess.
Marion "Suge" Knight was "timid" when he showed up to talk to police with three attorneys
A former homicide detective said former Death Row Records CEO Marion “Suge” Knight appeared “rather timid” when the executive showed up to talk to police after the September 1996 shooting with three attorneys in tow, since police considered him a “victim” in the case.
Becker testified earlier in the day that he thought Knight had lied in his interview with police.
“To us, his interview was very practiced, and he was very timid, and I thought he lied to us. He just didn’t know anything,” Becker said.
Fatigue appears to be setting in as witness testimony stretches on for hours
We are starting to see some signs of restlessness in the jury.
The prosecution’s matching of the names and photos was a bit tedious, and there were a couple of yawns and people shuffling in their seats.
After the defense began cross-examining Detective Brent Becker, one of the jurors stood up from his chair, stretched his hands straight up, then straight down toward the floor before he sat down and swigged a bottle of soda.
Becker testified for almost two hours on Monday.
Duane Davis was also seen yawning.
Defense now questioning former homicide detective
Former Las Vegas Metro Police homicide detective Brent Becker is now being cross-examined by defense attorney Michael Sanft.
The prosecution questioned Becker for just over an hour.
Detective says he went to California at least a dozen times trying to talk to key players
Detectives in Las Vegas began to have a hard time investigating the murder of Tupac Shakur because “everybody that is related to this crime that we know of is coming from California,” one of those detectives, Brent Becker, testified.
Becker, who was a homicide detective at the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department, said he made about 10 to 12 trips to California trying to contact different people.
Every time they went, Becker testified they tried to contact Death Row Records, Marion “Suge” Knight’s label that signed Shakur. However, Becker said they “got the runaround.”
Earlier, Becker testified that during their interview with Knight, “he just didnt know anything” and said he couldn’t idenify anyone.
Hear Tupac Shakur speak with CNN in 1993 about his movie "Poetic Justice"
Tupac Shakur starred in the John Singleton-directed film, “Poetic Justice,” alongside Janet Jackson in 1993.
During the movie’s press tour, Shakur spoke to CNN on July 11, 1993, about what he hoped viewers would take away from it, saying, “I’d be happy if people saw me in a positive light for a change.”
Los Angeles law enforcement "immediately" identified people in key video, former officer says
Law enforcement officials from the Los Angeles area “immediately” identified people, including Duane Davis’ cousin, in a video at the center of the investigation into the death of Tupac Shakur.
Officials from the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Office and the Compton Police Department came to help Las Vegas police with their investigation, former Las Vegas Metropolitan Police homicide detective Brent Becker testified. They were shown a video of an incident in the MGM Grand hotel in which Shakur, Marion “Suge” Knight and others beat up Orlando Anderson, Davis’ cousin.
The law enforcement officials “immediately recognize Orlando Anderson,” Becker said. He added they also recognized Knight in the video.
Davis has said that he, Anderson and others affiliated with LA-area gang the South Side Compton Crips went after Shakur and Knight that night in retaliation for the incident in the MGM.
Homicide detective says he locked up Tupac case files because he was concerned about leaks
Brent Becker, a former homicide detective with the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department, said he was worried about leaks as he investigated Tupac Shakur’s murder.
After Shakur died from his injuries sustained in the shooting, Becker testified there was increased outside and media interest in the case. He said he was aware that “there may have been some information” that was leaked, but that he didn’t know how.
He started locking his case files in his desk and put some records on a floppy disk instead of sending them to the records department, Becker testified.
“I had left things on my desk and a couple times I found things different than when I left them and it just bothered me,” Becker said. “That’s why I locked them up.”
Duane Davis is conversing with his lawyer
While the prosecution is questioned Detective Brent Becker, Duane Davis looked confused during some of it.
He has been speaking to his attorney Michael Sanft at the table. Then he appeared to be writing something on a piece of paper. He handed the paper to Sanft, and the attorney acknowledged it.
Lots of jurors have been taking notes on this testimony.
Detectives initially struggled to interview Marion "Suge" Knight following 1996 shooting
The night of and days following Tupac Shakur’s fatal shooting in September 1996, detectives attempted unsuccessfully to interview former Death Row Records CEO Marion “Suge” Knight, former Las Vegas Metro Police homicide detective Brent Becker said.
Knight had been in the car when the famed rapper was shot.
That night at the hospital, a fellow detective tried to interview Knight, Becker told prosecutors from the witness stand Monday, and it took several days to speak with him.
When he finally showed up for an interview, he brought his attorneys, Becker said.
He added, “Which we thought was weird because ‘Suge’ Knight was a victim.”
Tupac Shakur's family and supporters are in court on the first day of murder trial
Several of Tupac Shakur’s family members are present in the courtroom on Monday for the first day of the trial over his 1996 murder. His sister, Sekyiwa “Set” Shakur, is shown in the middle.
Former homicide detective says he was called to scene before Tupac's death
Former Las Vegas Metropolitan Police homicide detective Brent Becker said he was called to the scene of Tupac Shakur’s shooting the day after it happened, even though the hip-hop legend was not yet a homicide victim.
“That was very unusual,” Becker said. “At least at that time, we didn’t get called out unless there was a deceased victim. So it was unusual. I think when we arrived at the scene we were told that because of the nature of who the victim was, general assignment wanted us to come out to it,” he said.
Shakur was shot on September 7, 1996, and died six days later.
Prosecution calls former Las Vegas homicide detective
The prosecution has called its next witness, Brent Becker.
Becker, appearing on Zoom, is a former Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department officer. In 1996, when Tupac Shakur was murdered, Becker was a homicide detective, he testified.
Court is back in session
The jury is back in the courtroom after a lunch break and the trial of Duane Davis in the death of rapper Tupac Shakur is resuming.
The prosecution called two witnesses to the stand before lunch.
Duane Davis has publicly spoken about Tupac's murder before trial
In 2018, Duane Davis agreed to an interview about the killing of Tupac Shakur in BET’s “Death Row Chronicles.” He outlined his actions that night and said the fatal shots came from someone sitting in the back of the vehicle.
Then in February 2019, he published his memoir, “Compton Street Legend.”
In it, he wrote in detail about his desire for retaliation against Shakur, obtaining a Glock pistol, searching for the late rapper — and the ensuing moments that would change hip-hop forever.
After the shooting, Davis said they drove away from the scene and abandoned their rental car. He said he and Marion “Suge” Knight are the only two people still alive who were there that night.
Davis has also said the process of writing his book was “therapeutic,” and called the proffer agreement he made with police a “deal of a lifetime,” adding that he was only speaking out because of its supposed protection.
Tupac died on September 13, 1996. How the deadly incident unfolded
It’s September 7, 1996, and 25-year-old rapper Tupac Shakur is leaving a boxing match at the MGM Grand hotel on the Las Vegas Strip.
The “Hit ‘Em Up” rapper is in a car with former Death Row Records CEO Marion “Suge” Knight when a white Cadillac with “two or three males inside” pulls up beside them and fires “13 or 14 rounds” into the passenger side of the car, investigators at the time said. Shakur is shot four times.
Knight is slightly wounded in the incident, and Shakur died from his injuries six days later on September 13.
Investigators in 1996 said they believed Shakur was the intended target of the shooting and that those riding in Shakur’s 10-car entourage were not forthcoming as witnesses.
In 2014, Chris Carroll, a retired sergeant with the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department and the first police officer to arrive at the scene of Shakur’s drive-by murder, spoke publicly about the rapper’s last few words.
Carroll — who said he felt he had more freedom after retirement to speak about the homicide case without being reprimanded — attempted to get a “dying declaration” of a potential suspect from Shakur. The musician didn’t budge, though, Caroll told Vegas Seven magazine.
Caroll added, “And when he made that transition, he looked at me, and he’s looking right in my eyes. And that’s when I looked at him and said one more time, ‘Who shot you?’ … He looked at me and he took a breath to get the words out, and he opened his mouth, and I thought I was actually going to get some cooperation. And then the words came out: ‘F**k you.’ After that, he started gurgling and slipping out of consciousness.”
Hear Tupac speak to CNN about his critics
During an interview with CNN on October 24, 1995, Tupac Shakur spoke about his release from jail, his work and the public’s perception of him.
Death Row Records alum comes to Tupac trial seeking justice
Darryl Harper, who was one of Tupac Shakur’s labelmates at the West Coast hip-hop label Death Row Records, caught a flight from Georgia when he heard that the murder trial was starting.
He says he wants justice for his lost friend.
Catch up on opening statements and witness testimonies as Tupac murder trial is underway
The trial of Duane Keith Davis, who is charged with murder in the 1996 death of hip-hop legend Tupac Shakur, is underway in Las Vegas today. Davis, who pleaded not guilty, is not accused of firing the shots that killed Shakur, but prosecutors allege he orchestrated the killing.
The prosecution and defense gave their opening statements, and the prosecution so far called two witnesses to testify. Court is currently taking a lunch break and testimony will resume later this afternoon.
Catch up on everything that’s happened in court today:
- Prosecution lays out case: In their opening statement, prosecutors called the murder of Shakur an “act of revenge” for an attack on Orlando Anderson, Davis’ nephew, earlier in the evening. Prosecutors played video of that attack and audio of Davis talking in 2008 about the night of the murder, and said Davis had displayed “visceral anger” at Tupac over the past 30 years.
- Defense calls evidence into question: The defense’s opening statement focused on poking holes in evidence linking Davis to Shakur’s murder. Defense attorney Michael Sanft questioned why Davis hadn’t been charged earlier after admitting to his role in the murder and called his past statements “bullsh*t.” He also criticized detectives previously assigned to the case, calling the work of one “biased, sloppy, and incomplete.”
- Former police officer testifies: Garry Dale, the prosecution’s first witness and a former Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department officer, testified about pulling over Shakur and Marion “Suge” Knight on the night of the shooting and also riding with Shakur to the hospital.
- Witness recalls moment of shooting: Ingrid Stokes then spoke about being in Las Vegas at the time and place of the shooting. Stokes said she had been heading to the same club as Shakur and Knight when shots rang out and they drove away.
