The defense attorney who represented Duane ‘Keffe D’ Davis in his trial for the 1996 murder of 2Pac has reportedly died.
As reported by FOX5, defense attorney Michael Sanft, who was the lead trial attorney at SOS Injury Lawyers, died on Thursday (Nov. 5) in Las Vegas. The cause of death has not been publicly revealed. He represented Davis pro bono during his trial for the murder of Pac, for which he was found guilty of first-degree murder and sentenced to 40 years to life in prison.
In August, the jury in the trial found Davis responsible for the drive-by shooting that took the legendary West Coast rapper’s life in Las Vegas. Prosecutors argued that he wasn’t the person who fired the gun into the vehicle in which Pac was riding, but directed the triggerman to do so.
In the years following the shooting, Davis appeared to claim responsibility for the shooting in several interviews and a memoir. During the trial, his legal team attempted to argue that his interviews and memoir were solely “entertainment,” not an admission of guilt. After he was found guilty, he indicated that he planned to appeal the verdict.
In an interview with FOX5 earlier this year, Sanft said that he assembled “the best team possible” for Davis.
“We all did 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 time working for SOS Injury Lawyers, Sanft tried over 150 cases.
