Duane “Keefe D” Davis, the man charged with 2Pac‘s murder, will reportedly not have a high-powered lawyer in his corner in the high-profile case, but will instead be represented by a public defender.
Attorney Ross Goodman confirmed to the Las Vegas Review-Journal on Wednesday (November 1) that the former South Side Compton Crip has yet to secure legal representation, despite his arraignment looming.
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Goodman — the son of Las Vegas Mayor Carolyn Goodman and former mayor Oscar Goodman — represented Keefe D during a brief court hearing in Clark County, Nevada on October 19, but had not been officially hired as his lawyer.
In an emailed statement, Goodman confirmed that he is not representing Davis, revealing that the 60-year-old was “not able to meet the terms of the agreement.” Another attorney had not been listed for Davis in court records as of Wednesday.
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VladTV reports that Keefe D’s trouble with hiring an attorney stems from financial issues, claiming he is “unable to afford legal representation.”
Edi Faal, a Los Angeles-based attorney who has long represented Keefe D, said he expects a judge to appoint a representative from the Clark County Special Public Defender’s office to represent Davis.
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Faal was supposed to represent Keefe D during his initial planned arraignment on October 4, but was unable to attend. Faal told reporters at the time that he had been “tasked with helping [Davis] retain counsel in this case.”
After two previous delays, Keefe D’s arraignment is scheduled to go ahead on Thursday (November 2), but 8NewsNow speculates that it will “likely be delayed again” due to his lack of an attorney.
Keefe D was arrested in September in connection with the September 1996 murder of 2Pac, who was fatally shot aged 25 during a drive-by shooting in Las Vegas.
Accused of “orchestrating” the hit, Davis has been charged with murder with a deadly weapon in affiliation with a criminal gang. He is currently being held in the Clark County Detention Center without bail.
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The former gang leader has made several public comments about the murder in recent years. In his 2019 book Compton Street Legend, he confessed to providing the murder weapon, which was allegedly fired by his nephew and fellow gang member Orlando “Baby Lane” Anderson.
Authorities claim the killing was “retribution” against 2Pac, who alongside his entourage had beaten up Anderson inside the MGM Grand hotel and casino hours earlier.
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The attack is believed to have stemmed from allegations that Anderson, who himself was killed in an unrelated gang shooting in 1998, had attempted to steal the chain of a Death Row affiliate weeks earlier.
