Some members of Tupac Shakur's family left the courtroom before prosecutors showed autopsy photos at the trial of Duane “Keffe D” Davis
LAS VEGAS — Some members of Tupac Shakur's family stepped out of the courtroom Tuesday before prosecutors showed photos from his 1996 autopsy at the Las Vegas trial of Duane “Keffe D” Davis, who is charged with orchestrating the rap giant's fatal drive-by shooting.
Dr. Lisa Gavin, a forensic pathologist and medical examiner for Clark County, Nevada, was among the early witnesses on the second day of testimony. Jurors were shown a photo of a green body bag at the beginning of her questioning, followed by a grisly photo of his body. His relatives who remained in the courtroom looked away. One woman got up to leave once the photos were shown.
The bullet entered Shakur’s chest near his armpit, Gavin said, and traveled through his chest, including through a lung. That caused his lung to collapse and bleed, and doctors ultimately removed the damaged lung in an effort to save his life, she said.
Additional bullets damaged his intestines and other parts of his body, she said.
Shakur died at a hospital six days after he was shot.
The images were not shown in the video feed from the trial.
Gavin was not at Shakur’s autopsy but was called as an expert witness because the examiner from 30 years ago has since died.
As Gavin explained the autopsy photos, Davis sat still, looking at the screen in front of him. He occasionally whispered in his attorney’s ear.
In Monday's opening statements, Deputy District Attorney Binu Palal told jurors that “Duane Davis did not pull the trigger. But he did plan the shooting in retaliation of the beating of his nephew,” and that, “Remarkably, you will learn that from Duane Davis himself.”
Davis, 63, could get life in prison if he's convicted of murder with a deadly weapon with the intent to promote, further or assist a criminal gang. He has pleaded not guilty. His lawyer in the defense opening called the prosecution's narrative “fiction.”
Lawyer Michael Sanft told jurors Davis wasn't previously charged, despite implicating himself in interviews and his memoir, because law enforcement knew that he was “full of crap.”
Jurors were shown video of Shakur’s entourage attacking Davis’ nephew Orlando “Baby Lane” Anderson outside the boxing match at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas hours before the shooting on Sept. 7, 1996.
Davis spent the next two hours planning how to get even, said Palal, and Shakur was gunned down “in an act of revenge.”
Palal told jurors Davis held onto a visceral hatred for Shakur for decades that drove him to speak repeatedly about it.
