Judge denies Tupac shooting suspect’s request for new battery trial

A judge on Wednesday denied a new trial request made by Duane “Keffe D” Davis in connection with a jailhouse battery case that occurred as Davis was awaiting trial for allegedly organizing the murder of Tupac Shakur.

Davis, 62, was found guilty of counts of battery by a prisoner and challenging someone to a fight following a December altercation with another inmate. In a separate case, he awaits trial on allegations he orchestrated hip hop star Shakur’s slaying in 1996 near the Strip as payback for a fight involving Shakur and his nephew.

Defense attorney Carl Arnold alleged after the trial that a juror named Stephen Berkley was overheard talking to other jurors during a break “about inmates fighting and how the little guy has to work harder to preserve his reputation.”

Those comments violated court instructions, said Arnold, who argued Davis should receive a new trial.

Berkley previously denied speaking about Davis’ case but said he was referring to his own experience in jail.

He denied making the remark at all on Wednesday, though he confirmed to Arnold that he believed Davis was being railroaded.

Other members of the jury also testified they did not discuss the case or hear anything about a fight.

Unlike the disinterested jurors, District Judge Nadia Krall said, the witnesses who claimed to have heard Berkley’s comment — a filmmaker and Davis’ son — had “a relationship and a bias and a motive to testify in a certain way, whether subconsciously or not.”

Arnold argued Berkley would have likely been removed from the jury had Krall known what he said. Davis’ case was harmed because Berkley was instead allowed to deliberate, according to Arnold.

The defense attorney said after court that Krall had no choice but to deny his request. He does not plan to appeal and said Davis will likely be done serving his battery sentence by the time the murder trial occurs.

Chief Deputy District Attorney Marc DiGiacomo took the position Krall did not have authority to conduct the evidentiary hearing and argued Davis’ request for a new trial must be denied.

If Berkley did say “a little guy has to start fights and act harder in jail,” it benefited Davis’ defense that he was not the aggressor, said the prosecutor.

“You would have to weigh the testimony of 13 disinterested people against a son who loves his father and a grifter who’s trying to make money off the Tupac case and decide: ‘Did the statement ever happen?’” DiGiacomo told the court. “And that answer is obviously and clearly beyond a reasonable doubt no.”

District Court deputy marshal Peter Paul Pascual testified a mustachioed white man wearing a blue shirt approached him after the trial.

“He mentioned that he heard jurors talking about the case during the break in the hallway and I told him to bring it up to the lawyer,” Pascual said. Had he been informed during the trial, he said he would have let the judge know.

Filmmaker Richard Bond and Davis’ son, Duane Davis Jr., claimed they informed a marshal during the trial. But Bond said he did not notify Arnold immediately; Arnold had previously told him to “stay away.”

Bond told the court he attended the battery trial “as a journalist and a documentarian.”

Under questioning from DiGiacomo, Bond testified he paid his sources, Davis Jr. and Davis Sr. He said he put “a trivial amount of money on senior’s books for, I think it was for a food tray or food platter or something like that.”

Asked about his involvement in the older Davis’ cases, the filmmaker said, “I think I’ve contributed my opinion” and encouraged Davis to fire Arnold.

“I have not taken a class in journalistic ethics,” he said.

Journalists generally frown on paying the people they cover. The Society of Professional Journalists warns that paying for information “threatens to corrupt journalism.”

Davis’ battery sentencing is scheduled for Aug. 7.

Contact Noble Brigham at nbrigham@reviewjournal.com. Follow @BrighamNoble on X.