The defense lawyer who represented Duane ‘Keffe D’ Davis in the trial over the 1996 murder of 2Pac has reportedly passed away.
According to FOX5, Michael Sanft, a lead trial attorney at SOS Injury Lawyers, died on Thursday (Nov. 5) in Las Vegas. His cause of death has not been made public. Sanft represented Davis pro bono during his murder trial, which ended with a first-degree murder conviction and a 40-year-to-life prison sentence.
In August, a jury found Davis guilty of orchestrating the drive-by shooting that claimed the legendary West Coast rapper’s life in Las Vegas. Although prosecutors maintained that Davis was not the person who fired the shots into the vehicle carrying Pac, they argued that he instructed the gunman to carry out the attack.
In the years following the shooting, Davis appeared to take responsibility for his involvement in several interviews and a memoir. However, during the trial, his defense team argued that his statements in those interviews and the book were intended solely for “entertainment” and should not be treated as admissions of guilt. Following his conviction, Davis indicated that he intended to appeal the verdict.
During an interview with FOX5 earlier this year, Sanft spoke about his efforts to defend Davis, saying he had assembled “the best team possible” for the case.
“We all played our part,” he said. “I don’t see what I could’ve done differently. … He had reminded me this is phase one. Because I was upset with the verdict, I was very disappointed in the jury. Mr. Davis was the one who said, ‘Don’t worry about it, man, this is the first phase.’”
During his tenure at SOS Injury Lawyers, Sanft handled more than 150 trials.
