PODCAST:
Aug. 18, 2026 ~ Neil Rockind, criminal defense trial attorney at Rockind Law, joins Kevin Dietz to break down the opening statements in the Tupac Shakur murder trial.
LAS VEGAS, NEV. ~ Monday kicked off the murder trial of Tupac Shakur, who was killed in a drive-by shooting in 1996, and prosectors named Duane Davis as the supplier of the murder weapon in retaliation for the attack on his nephew earlier in the evening. Davis has not pleaded guilty.
One of the biggest pieces of evidence in the case that was introduced to the jury is a recording of Davis recapping the events of the night of the shooting to police in 2008, saying that Tupac “gave himself away” by hanging out of the car.
Another main piece of evidence in the trial is Davis’s memoir, but his lawyer, Michael Sanft, has refuted the dubious statements made in the book, arguing to the jury that “the state can’t prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Keffe (Davis) had anything to do with first degree murder with use of a deadly weapon,” according to The New York Times.
Two witnesses, Las Vegas police officer Garry Dale and Ingrid Stokes, also took the stand Monday. Dale stopped Shakur for having no back license plate, then found him with gunshot wounds 10 minutes later and did not get an answer out of Shakur when he asked who shot him in the ambulance on the way to the hospital. Stokes was nearby when the shooting took place, fled the scene and then returned shortly after to talk to police, but she claimed on Monday that she didn’t see anything.
