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Testimony continues today in the Tupac Shakur murder trial in Las Vegas. Sixty-three-year-old Duane Davis is a former gang leader, now accused of orchestrating Shakur's death in 1996. Davis has pleaded not guilty. Steve Futterman reports from Las Vegas.
STEVE FUTTERMAN, BYLINE: Nearly 30 years after Tupac Shakur's death, a jury finally began hearing the case.
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UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #1: At this time, we're going to turn to opening statements.
FUTTERMAN: Both the prosecution and defense outlined their cases. Prosecutor Binu Palal said Duane Davis didn't fire the fatal shot. However, he did just about everything else.
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BINU PALAL: Now, let's be clear - Duane Davis did not pull the trigger, but what he did do was plan the retaliation for the beating of his nephew.
FUTTERMAN: Just two hours before the shooting, Shakur and members of his group had attacked Davis' nephew. It took place in the MGM Grand Hotel after a Mike Tyson fight. The prosecution told jurors that when Davis learned of the assault, he vowed to retaliate.
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PALAL: Duane Davis hears about this beating. And what you will hear is that in his world, there is no question that a response is required.
FUTTERMAN: Davis was an influential member of the Los Angeles gang, the South Side Compton Crips. Shakur was associated with a rival gang. Prosecutors said this was classic revenge. And the main evidence, they said, is Davis' own words years later. In interviews and in his memoir, he admits to supplying the weapon used in the shooting and being in the vehicle that pulled up next to Shakur. In his opening statement, defense attorney Michael Sanft said Davis was embellishing and exaggerating, something Davis - also known as Keffe D - often did. Essentially, Sanft told jurors, don't believe my client.
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MICHAEL SANFT: What you're going to hear from witnesses that will testify to this is that Keffe D was known to do this.
FUTTERMAN: And then he gave an example.
SANFT: In the book, you're going to learn that Keffe says that he was at the fight. He was sitting in the second row. There's not one iota of proof that he was ever at that fight.
FUTTERMAN: He then told jurors that there's no proof Davis was even in Las Vegas that night. The first witness was former Vegas police officer Garry Dale, who rode with Shakur in the ambulance.
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GARRY DALE: He was still talking, and I was trying to convince him to tell me the name of whoever his assailants were.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #2: And did he ever respond?
DALE: Yes, he responded, no, no, we'll take care of it.
FUTTERMAN: The trial is expected to last at least a month.
For NPR News, I'm Steve Futterman in Las Vegas. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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