AILSA CHANG, HOST:
Almost 30 years after the killing of rap icon Tupac Shakur, a jury in Las Vegas convicted a former gang member of his murder. The jury deliberated just three hours before reaching a guilty verdict against Duane Davis in the drive-by shooting. Now, Davis did not pull the trigger, but he did admit to orchestrating the crime. Steve Futterman has been covering this trial and joins us now from outside the courthouse. Hi, Steve.
STEVE FUTTERMAN, BYLINE: Hi, Ailsa.
CHANG: Hi. OK, so the jury spent barely any time to reach this verdict after - what? - a three-week trial. Can you just tell us, like, what was Duane Davis' reaction like when the verdict was read in court?
FUTTERMAN: Well, it was quiet and subdued. There were no outbursts at all. When the clerk said the verdict was guilty, Davis didn't appear to show, really, any emotion. He is the first person to be convicted in Shakur's death, and Davis told the judge after the verdict he plans to appeal. For now, he will remain in jail without bond.
CHANG: OK. Let's go backwards just a little bit because today began with closing arguments, of course...
FUTTERMAN: Yeah.
CHANG: ...From both the prosecution and defense. And jurors heard two very different viewpoints. All of it revolved around previous statements that Davis made himself, right?
FUTTERMAN: That's right. The key evidence all along has been the comments from Duane Davis in his memoir and in interviews with the media and police where he admits providing the gun used in the killing and being in the vehicle that drove up alongside Tupac Shakur. The prosecutor, Binu Palal, told jurors this was a classic gang revenge killing - that Davis wanted payback after Shakur assaulted his nephew at the MGM Grand Hotel after a Mike Tyson fight.
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BINU PALAL: And Duane Davis, in the culture of gangs, could not let that stand. So what did he do? He acquired a firearm, got his group together and went hunting for Mr. Shakur.
CHANG: Wait. Just remind us, Steve, why has it taken this long for someone to face charges in this killing? I mean, this happened almost 30 years ago.
FUTTERMAN: Yeah. Well, the case was basically cold until 2019. That's when Davis wrote that memoir. He gave numerous details about what he did that night, how he was planning to pull the trigger. He actually said that he would've been the one to shoot Shakur, except he was on the passenger side of the vehicle and the car that Shakur was in was next to the driver's side. Well, you can imagine what Vegas police thought after they heard this. They restarted the investigation. Still, it took four years to bring charges. The prosecution today played a number of segments of Davis telling police and interviewers that he was involved. And at the end, the prosecution's closing, jurors were told, believe him.
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PALAL: For nearly 18 years, Duane Davis has told the police, television, books, YouTube interviewers - anybody that will listen he has told he is responsible for the murder of Tupac Shakur. Tell him you hear him. Find him guilty.
CHANG: Well, what did the defense say? Like, how did it deal with all of these statements made directly by their own client?
FUTTERMAN: Yeah. Well, Davis' - the defense argument all along has been, don't believe our client. Defense attorney Michael Sanft said Davis was intentionally exaggerating and embellishing. He accused law enforcement of believing everything Davis said without verification. At one point, he said Davis never saw or even read his memoir. And the attorney also challenged whether Davis was even in Las Vegas the night of the shooting. Why, he asked, isn't there anything - something - showing Davis in town that night?
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MICHAEL SANFT: How about paperwork, receipts, things that would indicate that, hey, I bought some stuff here in Las Vegas? How about phone records? How about photographs? These people - you know, when you go to a fight, you want to memorialize the moment with a photograph. What about something like that for Mr. Davis?
FUTTERMAN: Well, the defense also suggested law enforcement ignored other possible theories. But the jury did not believe any of this, saying Davis was guilty.
CHANG: That is Steve Futterman in Las Vegas. Thank you so much, Steve.
FUTTERMAN: Thanks, Ailsa.
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