Duane “Keffe D” Davis reiterated that he’s innocent in his first interview since he was convicted earlier this week for his role in the murder of Tupac Shakur.
Speaking to the Hollywood Reporter days after he was found guilty of first-degree murder in the 1996 killing of the rapper, Davis accused witnesses of lying on the stand and that an autobiography he claimed he didn’t write was used against him in court.
“I never wrote that book. The author told me to tell them 10 stories about what happened in your life and get them some pictures,” Davis said of his memoir Compton Street Legend, a key piece of evidence during the trial. “I never read that book or went over that book or nothing. They didn’t even spell my name right on the cover.”
He added of another piece of evidence against him — his own words in a Vlad.TV interview that was shown during the trial — “I was just there making the money. I was broke and the US attorney [Timothy] Searight had said that I was protected [via the proffer]. And Reggie Wright Jr. [former Death Row security chief] told me to go on and get my money. So I did.”
Davis said that witnesses were dishonest about his character throughout the trial, including FBI agents and police officers who testified for the prosecution. “Man, they lied about me so much. I don’t even know where to begin. All those cops in there was lying like a motherfucker. The prosecutors were lying about me,” Davis told the Hollywood Reporter. “I’m a good man, man. I’m a good person. I’m not no fucking killer.”
Asked why he didn’t take the stand in his own defense, Davis said that his lawyer told him that testifying would hurt his chance of an appeal.
The Las Vegas jury only needed three hours to convict Davis of first-degree murder, a verdict that was celebrated by Shakur’s family, who were present when the verdict was read. Asked if he had any message for the rapper’s family, Davis said, “I ain’t got nothing to say to them. I didn’t like the way they was looking at me – like they was ready to beat me up. And I didn’t like the way the prosecutors kept bringing them in the back room where the jury was. That felt biased to me.”
Davis’ lawyer planned to file an appeal following the conviction, with Davis citing a previous deal he made with the federal government that should supersede the Nevada state conviction. Still, Davis isn’t optimistic about his appeal chances.
“I’m innocent, man. They got an innocent man sitting in jail,” Davis added. “I’ve got two grandsons that are going to the pros in football. They All-Americans — one of them is in high school. He has 25 scholarship offers, and the other one is in college. And when they get their millions, they’re coming to get me out of here.”
