Tupac Murder Trial Kicks Off with Damning Evidence On Day One

In this world, silence means survival. The one person who has a hard time being. silent is Dwayne Davis. Really, at the. end of the day, you have to ask yourself. if what they're saying is really truth. There are no facts to point to Ki. >> Day one of the trial of Dwayne Kei D. Davis, the only man charged with the. murder of Tupac Shakur, is in the books. [music] We're going to recap the biggest. moments from opening statements which.

lay out what we can expect [music] from. each side to the start of witness. testimony. This is a case almost 30. years in [music] the making and it has. just begun. Welcome to Sidebar presented. by Law and Crime. [music] I'm Jesse. Weber. Here we are after almost 30 years, day. one of the murder trial for the only. person ever criminally charged in. connection with the killing of Tupac. Shakur. Out in Las Vegas, Nevada, Dwayne. Keepd Davis is charged with murder with.

a deadly weapon with the intent to. promote, further, or assist a criminal. gang. And a jury will have to decide if. he is guilty or not guilty. 16person. jury, 10 women, six men, four of them. alternates. The hip hop icon was gunned. down on the streets of Las Vegas back on. September 7th, 1996 in a driveby. shooting. And prosecutors alleged that. Davis orchestrated this killing. Not. that he actually pulled the trigger, but.

that he facilitated it, that he aided in. the commission. So why does the. prosecution believe Kefi D did this? What evidence do they claim they have. against him? Well, let's go to the. opening statements, okay? Which from a. legal point of view, I have always said. are some of the most important parts of. a trial. They are technically not. evidence. It's a preview of what to. expect in this case, both from the. prosecution and the defense. But I will. tell you, there are some statistics and. studies out there that will show jurors, even though they aren't supposed to,

will decide a case or lean a certain way. after opening statements. So with that. in mind, here is prosecutor Binu Pal. laying out the scene, the stage, the. context, the case against Davis. >> On September 7th, 1996, Tupac Shakur came to Las Vegas to attend. a Mike Tyson fight. After the fight, Tupac along with Suge Knight, Trayvon.

Lane, and other people that were with. that group ran into a person named. Orlando Anderson. And Orlando Anderson. is the defendant's nephew. And when they encountered Orlando. Anderson sitting by himself, [clears throat]. they attack that attack was captured on. video. During those two and a half. hours, you will learn that the defendant. was escalating and planning the. retribution for the beating of his. beloved nephew. Now, let's be clear.

Dwayne Davis did not pull the trigger, but what he did do was plan the. retaliation. for the beating of his nephew. You will learn that Dwayne Davis got the. gun. You will learn that he got into a. white Cadillac. You will learn when the opportunity. presented itself for retribution. Dwayne Davis made sure that the shooters. were armed and ready to execute their.

edge. One of the connections that Dwayne. Davis gets through his association with. Zip Martin is with Shawn Puppy Combmes. who was then the CEO of Bad Boy. Entertainment. Shawn Holmes wanted some security when. he came out to the west coast. He was. worried about Ma Pyu. He was worried. about the members of Death Row Records. And so Dwayne EPD Davis agreed to be.

around to act as unofficial security for. Shawn Combmes and his artists when they. came out west um in order specifically. to ensure there are no problems with. Wild Pyro and Death Row Records. And this took a rivalry between Ma Pyu. and Southside Compton Crips and. escalated it. And that. those tensions boiled over in the. Lakewood Mall in the summer of 1996.

>> Yeah. So, you're looking at this. surveillance footage of this purported. beating of Orlando Anderson at the MGM. Grant. Okay. This hotel in Las Vegas. This is right after the Mike Tyson. fight. Let me just say something real. quick. I know this is a little bit of a. 180, but I have to call it out. Great. sponsor of ours. If you run a business, if you have your own business, you know. that that in and of itself is tough. enough. Why make it harder doing things. manually or relying on dozens of apps. that don't talk to each other, right? That's where our sponsor, ODO, comes in.

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claims Davis did. Dwayne Davis hears. about this meeting and what you will. hear that is that in his world there is. no question that a response is required. What we learn is that Dwayne Davis is. upset about the beating of his nephew. And frankly, no, that's not an unusual. response. What's unusual is the next steps Dwayne. Davis takes. unusual for the normal.

person, maybe not unusual for a g in. gang culture. Dwayne Davis decides he is going to. organize a retaliation, that this. beating cannot go unanswered. Then he runs into a person named Zip. Martin. Remember the Zip Martin, that. was a connection with Bad Boy. Entertainment from New York. And Zip. Martin tells him that he has a gun and. that he can come help him out. As you. just heard, and if you've been following. our preview coverage of this trial, this. case is largely, if not almost entirely,

based on Dwayne Kefei D. Davis's. statements. Okay? And it's not just what. witness A claims Davis said. No, these. are recorded statements and also. potentially allegedly a book that he. wrote. These are statements that Davis. has made over time where he, as the. prosecution will argue, allegedly. confessed to his participation in. Tupac's murder. For example, this is. when he reportedly sat down in 2008 to.

speak to a task force that was. investigating the death of Notorious. B.I. And while he allegedly made. statements as early as 1998 about. Tupac's killing, it was in 2008 when he. does this secret interview. So, they. were investigating the death of. notorious B.I. Christopher Wallace, killed six months after Tupac. And. according to the prosecution, the feds. approached Davis because he was. apparently leaving the same party in LA, the one that Wallace had left right.

before he was killed. According to the. prosecution, they picked Davis up on. this narcotics trafficking beat. They. have this case against him. He claims, "Look, I don't know anything about. Notorious B.'s he's killing. But I do. have information on Tupac's killing. Where he tells. you he tells [clears throat]. this whatever. [snorts] you don't know. they going to get too.

you ask her do you have one or just tell. Yeah, I only know. >> And in case that wasn't clear, here's. the prosecution explaining more alleged. details about what Davis is accused of. doing here.

>> So later, Dwayne Davis organizes two. vehicles to go over to the 662 club. Before that, he gets the gun from Zip. Martin. And in that white Cadillac. before the shooting, before the shooting. occurs, Dwayne Davis explains that the. driver is Terrence T. Brown. In the rear driver's side is DeAndre Dre. or Big Dre Smith. In the rear passenger side is Orlando.

Baby Lane Anderson. And Dwayne Davis. himself, KBD, is in the front passenger side. And this is how Dwayne Davis explains. the murder of Tupacore. >> And this is Kefi D, Mr. Davis seemingly. explaining himself how this all went. down. >> A little bit right here. at the main floor.

Here they come. across Tupac. like there you go. They was in they was in a little we. checking every car to see where they. was. >> So what directed your attention to is. some girl shouting at Tupac Tupac. >> He gave us away.

You did a U-turn then you pulled along. side of it. Have you heard the gun at this point or. the point? >> I thought it. on this side. >> So you were you were glass if you had to. or you. >> Okay. So you hand the gun to the back.

seat. >> Yeah. What do you hear? >> Dre. >> So what you hear Dwayne Davis says say. admit that as they see Tupac Shakur and. SH Knight driving to club 662. Dwayne Davis, Dwayne Davis along with Terrence Brown, DeAndre Smith and Orlando decide to make. a U-turn.

confront Tupac Shakur and Ship Knight. Dwayne Davis had the firearm. It's a. firearm he got from Eric Vonzip Martin. and then he passes it to the back. Dwayne Davis says that if that he if. they were on his side, if Tupacore and. Shnack were on his side of the vehicle, he would have shot them himself. But. because they were on the other side, he. handed it to DeAndre Smith. DeAndre. Smith, according to Dwayne Davis, did. not want to shoot at that time. So, Orlando Anderson shot into that spot.

Dwayne Davis explains this over and over. again. And when he starts blasting, um, you say she moves over, he sees you. He looks right at you.

>> He looks over at you and then you know. [clears throat]. getting shot. trying to. shoot or something. >> Yeah. What do you see happening? >> I seen the movie going. I thought he was. dead. a piece of glass right here.

>> Okay. I'm sorry. right. stupid. and they stop. trying to jump in the back seat.

>> Now, this case is not just based on one. recorded 2008 interview. It is based on. multiple alleged statements and it is. that frequency and the circumstances. surrounding those alleged admissions. that could prove problematic for Kefi D. In 2009, Davis is being so helpful to. federal authorities that he actually. flies out to New York to try and get Zip. Martin to implicate himself in the Tupac.

supporter. Zip Martin at that time was. dying of cancer, was out of the game, and really did not engage with Dwayne. Davis. In 2009 though, Dwayne Davis gives an. interview to Las Vegas Metropolitan. Police Department detective Dan Long. Now, Dwayne Davis is more guarded in. that interview. It is a different. setting than the interview at 2008. It's. not a secret proper agreement. But.

Dwayne Davis does admit a number of. things that he was in Las Vegas, that he. was mad about Orlando Anderson, that he. was the boss, that he was in the white. Cadillac, that he procured the firearm. that ultimately killed two Bosch. So in. 2017, [clears throat] Dwayne Davis. decides to go public. He's approached by. the producers of a show called Death Row. Chronicles that appears on BET. And this. is a just a small portion of what he.

says is his motivation for appearing. days. I was probably being. the only people alive. about the Tupac. People have been pursuing me for 20. years, magazines. I'll go down. here right now. [snorts]. >> Remarkably, in 2019, Dwayne Davis then. decides he's going to publish his own.

book. And with regards to the book, it is. certainly a lot of self arrandisement, but again, the core remains. He w he was. mad about Orlando Anderson beating about. uh the beating of Orlando Anderson, his. nephew. He was in Las Vegas. He got the. gun. He was in the White Cat line and he. handed the gun to the shit. >> So you ended up getting in the car with. Baby Lane and them uh I got in the car.

with Yeah. And we uh ran into them. We. went up to the light on Sunset and. Flamingo. and a dude uh act like he was in a. parade or something. and that BMW hanging out the window. Hey, this Tupac Tup and. they was holling for him and we there go. and it came up on the side of him. >> Now, there's something key here that the. prosecution hits upon one emotion that.

allegedly surfaces from Kei D which the. prosecutor claims shows that he. participated in this killing of Tupac. Shakur. And that emotion is anger. And. again, what remains. even as late as 2020, 2021,22. is Dwayne Davis's visceral at.

my never jumped on. They jumped on my. nephew. >> 28 years later. That is the visceral. anger that Dwayne Davis had for Tupac. It did it in 2 and 1/2 hours. He took.

care of what he thought was the proper. response. And [clears throat] 28 years. later, he still is angry about what. Tupac did. On September 7th, 1996, Tubac Shakur. publicly on camera participated in a. humiliating beating of Dwayne Davis's. nephew, Orlando Anderson. Dwayne Davis. knew that in his world that required a. response. And over the years in private.

interviews, in public statements, and. even in private calls, Dwayne Davis has. repeatedly told us over and over again. about the anger he felt and his own role. in the revenge drive by shooting of. Tupac Shakur. And now, nearly 30 years later, we're going to. ask you to finally hold Dwayne Davis. accountable. Thank you. So, those are the key moments. from the prosecution's opening. statement. Remember, they have the. burden of proof. They have to prove this.

case beyond a reasonable doubt. And as. you notice, they spent almost all the. time on the alleged statements and. alleged confessions of Dwayne Kefi D. Davis. And that is exactly what Kefi D's. defense attorney, Michael Samp, focused. on in his opening statement. At. >> the end of the day, you have to ask. yourself if what they're saying is. really truth or fiction. Fact or. fiction? There are no facts to point to. Ki.

Not one. >> Three themes here from the defense as. far as I could see. Okay. One, there's. no other evidence tying KVD to Tupac's. killing. For example, the prosecution. doesn't seem to have the murder weapon. in this case. Two, sloppy investigation. not complete. And three, you can't trust. what Kefi D said that he made it all up. >> LAPD reached out to him, called him up. and said, "Hey, Detective Long, we have. the gun.

and we've tested it and it matches back. to what you're looking for in terms of. the weapon that killed Tupac Shakur.". Detective Guang goes to LAPD, gets the gun, transports it back, gets. tested, and he comes out as not a match. LAPD tells him after, "We gave you a big. gun to test you out." What you will also. learn is out of all those people in that. room, not one person verifies what TPB.

tells them. That the FBI, the gold standard of. investigation in our country did not go. out and follow up on what was said. Now, one of the things the state showed. you was a picture of a car and indicated. there was four individuals in that car. and he tell you that at some point three. of those individuals are dead and KPI is. the only one that's remaining but at the. time that he gives his statement to the.

task force in 2008 there's another. individual that's still alive. they never interviewed that individual. to verify that that information was true. why not because the FBI just fall asleep. that the LAPD just didn't error. Keep was never charged for any of what. he said during that time period. And. it's because they knew he was full of. crap.

Otherwise, he would have. Why wouldn't. they? [clears throat]. When Detective Long comes back to Las. Vegas, he goes and he talks it over with the. Clark County District Attorney's Office. And you know what happened then? They didn't charge the case either. in 2009. Ask yourself the reason why that is. Is. because they just didn't care about.

Tupac Shakur or his wife or is because. they looked into it and realized we. can't verify this information. We don't. believe this to be true. And you'll. notice if you watch this entire defense. opening or even during the course of. this case, the defense spent a lot of. time criticizing the work of retired Las. Vegas police detective Clifford Mock. >> And Mr. Mock goes to the grand jury. And. in the grand jury, it's a secret. proceeding. We're not there. The.

defense, you know, isn't sitting like we. are here. It's just the prosecutors. There's a panel of people called the. grand jurors and you have people come up. and they testify under oath and there's. really no way for the defense to. challenge any of it because it's done in. secret. We don't really know about it. But in this particular case, Mr. Mob is. sworn to testify truthfully. And you. know what Mr. Mob does? He just reads. pages of the book into the record.

He doesn't do any more in terms of an. investigation than read pages of a book. into the record. He never documents in. any of his efforts any verification of. the book before he reads it into the. record. He walks up, gets on the stand, and reads the book as if it's the gospel. truth. What you're going to find out. about Mr. Mog is that he never wrote a. reporting. So when he took over the case in 2017.

all the way up until when he retired in. 2023 and was in front of the grand jury, he never wrote a report. Not one time. Not like Detective Becker. and not like Detective Long and not like. any other police officer who does their. job. This man never writes report. >> And one of the other things the defense. did in their opening statement is they. called out the prosecution's witnesses. like Reggie Wright Jr. who, by the way, I've interviewed before. This is. somebody who worked as security for.

Death Row Records. Attorney S claimed. he's a felon who wasn't around when the. shooting occurred, that he allegedly. ordered people to lie during the. investigation. The defense also. mentioned Devont Durk Rock Lee, who Sam. claimed as a paid informant who will say. whatever he needs to. Defense attorney. Sam also mentioned retired LAPD. detective Greg Kading that he allegedly. stole the Tupac and Biggie case file for. personal gain. Now, before we get into. the testimony, just here is how the.

defense, defense attorney Sam wrapped. things up in his opening statement. >> What you're going to hear from witnesses. that will testify to this is that KikiB. was known. to do this. Otherwise, it's just that or. and at the end of all the time you spend. together, what you're going to find is. is that the state cannot prove to you. beyond reason doubt the claim that Kee. was had anything to do with a. first-degree murder with use of heavy. weapons. There's no facts to that matter.

>> Okay. So, two different perspectives, two different opening statements. Let me. go to witness testimony. I actually want. to start with the second witness of the. day. We'll get to the first, but the. second witness called by the prosecution. was Ingred Stokes. She claims she was on. the Las Vegas strip that night, that she. was in a car on the same street as Suge. Knight and Tupac, that they were in. their own car, and she was right there. as the shooting happened. So, this is. what she said when being questioned by.

the prosecution. We were driving, you. know, hanging out in convertible and um. my girlfriend Lauren at the time, she. knew Suge and she told us, "Hey, there's. Suge. Pull up next to them. I'm going to. ask them what they're doing.". >> And so Shellane was a driver and she. slowed up close to them. >> And so you said Chellain was the driver. >> Yes. >> Um where were you seated? >> I was the passenger in front. >> In the front passenger. So Chellain's. driving, you're on the front passenger. and the other two women are in the back. seat.

>> Yeah. Tanisha's behind me and then. Lauren is behind the driver. >> After all these years, you still. remember that, huh? >> Well, yeah. Some things you don't forget. that one. >> Um, and so then when you uh start. driving or when you see Suge and you. guys, your friend starts talking to. Suge, what happens? >> Um, they were talking and she was like, "What's going on? What's happening?" We. look over next. We pull up to the car. and we kind of nod or say hello. That. kind of thing. But we were in our own. little world. While she was talking to. him, he said, "Hey, we're all going to. the club. Why don't you follow us? Get.

behind us. You can go with us. There was. a car behind us and they kept going. around us trying to get in front of us. We almost hit the car when we were. trying to drive off. There was a car in. the the l that last lane that was the. turning lane and it was a white. four-door. I don't can't tell you what. combat snow was likeish and um we almost. we were trying to get away. >> Were you trying to pursue the white car? >> Hell no. >> Just want to get away. The police. officer made us sit on the ground on the. sidewalk in front of every like people. cars are still I think may have been.

passing. So it was kind of an odd. situation where they were like kind of. rude to us and then they're treating us. like we're suspects. We really didn't. know what happened though. >> Now I want you to listen very carefully. to what she says when questioned by the. defense on cross-examination. when we. pulled up on the side of him and she was. talking to Suge, he was relaxed like. sitting in the chair um chair sitting in. the passenger seat and Suge was relaxed. talking to Lauren. Um nothing like there. was no engagement. >> Okay. So, as you're sitting there and.

you pull up, uh Tupac was not hanging. out the window and doing something out. of the window. >> Absolutely not. No. >> Okay. Uh, his torso was not sitting on. top of the window yelling to his fans, Tupac, too. >> There was no fans around. They were just. driving in the car, listen to the music. like we were. >> What I took away from that, does that. account contradict what Kefi D said in. one of his interviews where he seemingly. claimed that people were yelling Tupac, Tupac, and he was leaning out the.

window. She seems to disagree with that. account or her account's different. So, I think the defense is trying to mount. the argument here. You can't believe. what Kefi D said, that he's an. unreliable narrator. Something to think. about. Now, I want to go back to that. first witness of this trial. Okay. Gary. Dale worked for the Las Vegas. Metropolitan Police Department. He was. working on a bike team the night that. Tupac was killed. claimed that before. the shooting, earlier in the night, he. stops this black BMW that he claims had. no license plates and he says was.

occupied by Suge Knight and Tupac. Shakur. But this is the key moment. Listen to this account of what happened. after the shooting and I will tell you. it is chilling to hear and legally. potentially important for the. prosecution. >> Fast forward about I think 10 minutes. later, something unusual happened. >> What happened? >> Um, we were continuing riding on.

[snorts] the strip area. We were uh. heading southbound on the boulevard and. we heard some calls come out about a. vehicle. Can't remember exactly what was. said, but heading up heading up towards. Harmon, we saw the vehicle that had been. described um in the median of the road. It looked like it had ran up on the. median and was stopped there. in the. middle of the boulevard. >> What do you do when you see that? >> We approach the vehicle. >> Is it you and Mr. Goldart? Officer.

Goldart. >> And uh do you re do you see either of. the two people that you saw earlier in. the vehicle? >> Um yes. >> And who is that? A Marian Knight was. outside of the vehicle um walking around. talking and uh Tupac Shakur was being uh. removed by um EMS people. >> As uh Marian Knight is talking, do you. recall anything he's saying?

>> He was telling us to take care of uh. Tupac Shakur. >> Are you able to have any sort of. communication with Mr. Shak? He was. still uh talking and I was trying to I. was trying to uh convince him to tell me. the name of whoever his asalants were. >> And did he ever respond? >> Yes, he responded. Uh no, no, we'll. we'll take care of it. So, something. like that. >> Said, "No, we'll take care. >> We'll take care of it." Something like. that. >> Talk about that large gold chain we see.

in that photograph right there. The. second time you came across Mr. Shakur. Uh, was he wearing that gold chain. that's around his neck? >> No. >> So, the thing that came into my mind, did Tupac Shakur seemingly know who did. this to him? And if there's a. continuation of events here, Orlando. Anderson and then this is retaliation. You can see why this might be pivotal. for the prosecution. But there you have. it. Okay. Some of the biggest moments.

from day one. We're planning on doing. this every day. We want to make sure. that you have a full recap of the most. important moments from each day. We're. going to analyze it for you as well, both from the prosecution and the. defense, what is going on in this case. And by the way, you can stream this. trial for yourself on the Law and Crime. Trials channel. Hopefully, you can check. it out. Okay, before we wrap things up, I want to just tell everybody something. So, on sidebar, you know, we break down. major trials. We walk you through the. key pieces of evidence. Sometimes we're. kind of limited on how much we can show. you. That is why if you haven't heard.

yet, you can look at everything on case. files on the Long Crime Plus app. We. have it for Tupac Shakore, too. So, we. are opening up the evidence vault so you. can inspect the raw body cam footage, the 911 calls, the crime scene photos, the full trial tapes firsthand. Plus, you get adree streaming of all your. favorite law crime and court TV shows. You can see the full picture for an. entire month free. Head on over to. longrimeplus.com. Enter promo code sidebar and start. exploring today. And that's all we have.

for you right now here on Sidebar. Everybody, thank you so much for joining. us and as [music] always, please. subscribe on YouTube, Apple Podcast, Spotify, wherever you should get your. podcasts. [music] And you can also check. us out on NBC's Peacock as well. Thank. you so much everybody. I'll see you next. time.