Keffe D’s Tupac appeal is on the books in Nevada, but the lawyer who filed it died a week later
Nevada's Supreme Court has formally opened Duane "Keffe D" Davis's appeal against his conviction for the 1996 killing of Tupac Shakur. The lawyer who lodged it, Michael Sanft, was found dead at his Las Vegas home days later, and the court's first deadlines are already running.
Three things to know
- Davis was found guilty in August of murder with a deadly weapon and sentenced to 40 years to life; he is the only person ever convicted over Tupac's death.
- His lawyer Michael Sanft, who worked on the case without charge, filed the notice of appeal on 30 October and died a week later, aged 55.
- The Supreme Court docketed the appeal on 9 November and says it will give Davis extra time to find a new lawyer once the State Bar tells it of Sanft's death.
The appeal in the most famous murder case in hip-hop history has reached Nevada’s highest court without anyone left to argue it.
The Nevada Supreme Court docketed Duane “Keffe D” Davis’s appeal on Monday 9 November, US time, 30 years after Tupac Shakur was shot in Las Vegas. The notice had been filed on 30 October by Michael Sanft, the Las Vegas defence lawyer who represented Davis at trial for free. Sanft was found dead at his home in the first week of November. He was 55. The Clark County coroner confirmed the death; the cause and manner are still pending.
What did the court say?
The court said it had not yet been formally told of Sanft’s death by the State Bar of Nevada. Once it is, the court said it will give Davis more time to find a lawyer and lodge the formal documents.
Until then, the standard clock applies. Court filings give Davis two weeks to file a transcript request, three weeks for a docketing statement and 120 days for his opening brief, the document that sets out why the conviction should be overturned.
How did Davis come to be convicted?
Tupac was shot in a drive-by at an intersection near the Las Vegas Strip on 7 September 1996, after a Mike Tyson fight at the MGM Grand. He died six days later, aged 25. For 27 years no one was charged.
That changed in September 2023, when Las Vegas police arrested Davis, a former Compton gang leader. Prosecutors built much of their case on his own words: years of interviews and a memoir in which he described his role in the shooting. His bid to keep those out of the trial failed.
Prosecutors said Davis supplied the gun and that his nephew, Orlando Anderson, fired the shots. Anderson was killed in an unrelated shooting in 1998 and was never charged over Tupac’s death.
On 31 August this year a jury took about three hours to find Davis guilty of murder with the use of a deadly weapon. He was sentenced in October to 40 years to life: 20 years to life for the murder and a further, consecutive 20 years to life for the weapon. Davis told the court he would appeal.
Who was Michael Sanft?
Sanft was a well-known Las Vegas trial lawyer who also defended former Las Vegas councillor Michele Fiore in her 2024 federal fraud case. He took on Davis’s defence pro bono and lost the trial, but moved quickly to keep the appeal alive, filing the notice well inside the deadline. Las Vegas lawyers have paid tribute to him, one describing him as an honest, humble and good person.
Why does this matter now?
Without a lawyer, Davis risks missing the early procedural steps an appeal depends on, although the court has signalled it will not hold him to the usual timetable once it is formally notified. Whoever takes the case on inherits a large trial record and a client whose own recorded statements are the core of the evidence against him.
The timing also puts Tupac back at the centre of the culture. Netflix releases Angie Martinez’s four-part series built on her unheard 1996 interview with him on 27 November.
What happens next
- The State Bar of Nevada is expected to notify the Supreme Court of Sanft's death, which will trigger an extension for Davis to find new counsel.
- Under the current order, the opening brief is due about 120 days after 9 November, in early March 2027, unless the court extends it.
- Davis remains in custody serving his sentence.
Sources
- VNN
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