In court today
• Happening now: The trial of Duane Keith Davis, who is charged with one count of murder with a deadly weapon in hip-hop legend Tupac Shakur’s death, 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.
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.
In pictures: Look back at Tupac's fleeting career nearly 30 years after his death
Tupac Shakur, also known as 2Pac and Makaveli, had a fleeting yet influential career in the music industry.
Shakur made his debut in 1991 with the Oakland-based group Digital Underground and, five short years later, at 25, was shot and killed in Las Vegas during a drive-by shooting in September 1996.
The New York City-born rapper moved to the San Francisco Bay Area in the late 80s and became synonymous with West Coast rap, working with other era-defining artists such as Snoop Dogg, Ice Cube, Nate Dogg and Dr. Dre.
Scroll through the gallery below for a look back at his career.
Look back at Tupac's fleeting career nearly 30 years after his death
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.
Key evidence against Duane Davis: A book, a magazine issue about Tupac, more
A search warrant issued for a home belonging to the wife of Duane “Keffe D” Davis shows police were looking for items including “notes, writings, ledgers, and other handwritten or typed documents concerning television shows, documentaries, YouTube episodes, book manuscripts, and movies concerning the murder of Tupac Shakur.”
Police seized tablets, an iPhone and computers from the home, along with USB and hard drives, photographs, a “Vibe” magazine issue about Shakur, and a copy of the book “Compton Street Legend” by Davis and Yusuf Jah.
The book is expected to be a key piece of evidence in the case.
Prosecutors filed a motion in July calling the book “evidence of the months long war” and asking the court to admit it in full because it’s “the single most probative relevant circumstantial evidence of the killers of Tupac Shakur.”
Jurors may also be shown clips from a 2018 BET interview during which Davis admitted on camera to being in the car when the shots that eventually killed Shakur rang out, an admission which is also in the book.
“Going to keep it for the code of the streets,” Davis said, when asked which of the men was responsible for pulling the trigger. “It just came from the backseat, bro.”
CNN’s Cheri Mossburg, Scott Glover and Eric Levenson contributed reporting.
Jurors in Nevada can ask witnesses questions. How it works
Nevada allows jurors to submit questions to witnesses in criminal trials, following a 1998 Nevada Supreme Court ruling.
Nevada is among a number of states that permit the practice, while Colorado is one of a handful that explicitly require judges to allow it.
A majority of states permit jurors to ask questions in some form, especially in civil cases, according to Nadia Banteka, a professor at Florida State University College of Law. The specifics vary by jurisdiction.
Juror questioning isn’t a free-for-all, according to Banteka. Instead, it’s a “highly structured and judge-controlled” process.
Court is taking a lunch break
The court is now taking a lunch break until 1:15 p.m. local time (4:15 p.m. ET).
Juror asks shooting witness about direction of shots
A juror on the bench asked Ingrid Stokes, a witness to the shooting of Tupac Shakur in September 1996, whether she could “gauge what direction the shots were coming from.”
“No,” Stokes replied. “It was too chaotic, and you’re not, you know, thinking about that.”
Trials in the state of Nevada allow for jurors to ask questions of witnesses following cross-examination.
Witness draws map of where she was during fatal shooting of Tupac Shakur
During cross-examination by the defense, witness Ingrid Stokes drew a map of where she and her friends were in relation to the car Tupac Shakur was in at the time of his fatal shooting in Las Vegas.
Stokes and three of her friends were heading to the same club as Shakur and Marion “Suge” Knight and had pulled up near their car at an intersection before shots rang out, she testified.
The map she drew shows her car slightly ahead and to the right of the car Knight and Shakur were in. Stokes said she and her friends quickly drove off and turned right after hearing gunshots.
Shooting witness says police treated her badly
Ingrid Stokes, a witness to Tupac Shakur’s shooting, testified police mistreated her and her friends after the attack.
After hearing gunshots, Stokes and her friends drove away from the area, she testified. Later, they saw police and went to tell them what they saw, even though she was “not a big fan” of the police at the time, she testified.
Stokes said the police made them sit on the sidewalk in front of other people and later took them downtown to give eyewitness statements.
“They were kind of rude to us, they were treating us like we were suspects,” she said.
She said she “absolutely” had fear of talking about the case, especially after the way police treated them.
“I was going to offer some assistance of what I could … But the police treated us so bad that we just started shutting down,” she testified.
Woman describes moment shooting happened a few cars behind her at a traffic light
Ingrid Stokes was in a car with three of her friends heading to the club Tupac Shakur and Marion “Suge” Knight were also going to when the shooting happened, she testified.
They were stopped at a traffic light a few cars in front of Knight and Shakur, she said. Stokes and her friend were about to switch places so that Stokes could drive instead, she testified.
They had their heads down, unbuckling their seatbelts, when they heard the gunshots, according to Stokes.
After that, “all hell broke loose,” she said.
