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Prosecutors will seek to establish a motive for the murder of rap superstar, Tupac Shakur, by showing the jury a video of the musician allegedly beating the defendant's nephew outside a Las Vegas casino.
The CCTV footage from 1996 shows a group of men punching and kicking Orlando "Baby Lane" Anderson until a security guard intervenes and stands over his body. Hours later, Shakur, one of America's biggest rap stars, was shot dead when the car he was traveling in stopped at a traffic light.
The accused, Duane "Keffe D" Davis, pleaded not guilty to murder on Thursday and the court in Las Vegas is now preparing for a jury trial.
Davis spoke of his involvement in the fracas in a memoir and also in several interviews. Prosecutors hope the CCTV video will show he and his nephew had a motive for killing Shakur and that Davis' claims are not fabricated boasts.
The prosecution team are seeking to establish that on September 7, 1996, Shakur, then one of the biggest names in rap, arrived in Las Vegas with an entourage that included Suge Knight, the head of Shakur's music label, Death Row Records, and Shakur's fiancée, Kidada Jones, for a heavyweight title fight between Mike Tyson and Bruce Seldon.
The fight lasted fewer than two minutes, with Tyson winning in a first-round knockout.
At around 8:50 p.m., outside the MGM Grand hotel and casino, Shakur, Knight and their entourage got into a fight with a group that included Davis and his nephew Anderson.
A group of men gathered around Anderson and kicked and punched him until he was prone on the ground. In the beating, one man appears to push another out of the way to get at Anderson.
Prosecutors will also seek to establish that Davis and Anderson were members of the South Side Compton Crips, a Southern California-based gang that were rivals of Knight's Blood-affiliated gang, Mob Piru.
Anderson, who was killed in an unrelated gang shooting in 1998, is accused of conspiring with his uncle to find a gun. Davis was allegedly supplied with one by a gangster from Harlem, New York, according to his memoir.
Shortly before 9 p.m., Shakur's group left the MGM Grand.
At around 11.15 p.m, prosecutors say, the rapper was riding in the passenger seat of a black BMW that Knight was driving. The car stopped at a red light at the junction of Flamingo Road and Koval Lane, a block from the Strip.
A white Cadillac is then said to have driven up next to the BMW at the lights. "Another car pulled up beside Mr. Shakur and Mr. Knight and an arm came out of the back window and began shooting," Malcolm Greenidge, a lifelong friend of Shakur who had traveled to Las Vegas with him and was riding in a car behind the BMW, told the grand jury that indicted Davis.
Shakur was hit with four bullets, two of them to his chest. He died six days later, on September 13, aged 25.
Davis is now struggling to find legal representation, having missed a court-ordered deadline for appointing an attorney. His supporters are fundraising for a private lawyer, outside the legal aid system.
Neama Rahmani, a former federal prosecutor and president of West Coast Trial Lawyers law firm, said that the surveillance video of Shakur allegedly beating Anderson could have a major effect on the jury's opinion.
"The video surveillance is great evidence of motive. The brawl took place shortly before the murder, and the prosecution will be able to call witnesses and experts to establish the rivalry between Tupac and Davis and Anderson.
"Davis can't use the brawl to argue self-defense because he can't use deadly force unless there is an imminent risk of death or serious bodily injury. Shooting into an occupied vehicle doesn't meet that burden," he said.
Davis "has made some problematic admissions" that will make it difficult to counter the prosecution narrative, Rahmani said.
He suggested that Davis may be better off accepting legal aid rather than a private lawyer, given the weight of evidence.
"Lawyers don't like to lose, especially if they're not getting paid. Anyone in private practice who accepts this case is going to want to make sure they are paid up front," he said.
"Public defenders or lawyers on the indigent panel are a different story. They are paid with government funds, and they have to accept representation unless there is some sort of conflict," he said.
Indigent panels are used to appoint counsel when a defendant is considered to be unable to pay the fees required to hire a defense lawyer.
"Davis has a personal lawyer in California already, but he's having a tough time finding a Nevada attorney to handle the murder case. Prosecutors aren't going to give much of a deal after all these years, and if Davis was really the 'shot caller' and responsible for Tupac's death, this case is likely going to trial," he added.
Newsweek has sought comment from Davis' Los Angeles-based attorney.
About the writer
Sean O'Driscoll is a Newsweek Senior Crime and Courts Reporter based in Ireland. His focus is reporting on U.S. law. ... Read more