Michael Sanft death, attorney for Keffe D in Tupac murder trial, Digi Mart USA News (Las Vegas): Michael Sanft, the defense attorney who represented Duane “Keffe D” Davis in the Tupac Shakur murder trial, has died, according to FOX5 Vegas.
Sources told FOX5 that Sanft was reported dead on Thursday night in Las Vegas. On Friday, the Clark County Coroner’s Office confirmed the 55-year-old’s death.
A cause and manner of death remain pending. Details surrounding his death are limited, and the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department has referred all inquiries to the coroner’s office.
Sanft was the lead trial attorney at SOS Injury Lawyers, where he tried over 150 cases to jury verdict and argued before the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals. According to his website, he moved to San Diego at age 12 and later attended BYU-Hawaii.
Sanft represented Davis pro bono during his trial in Las Vegas. A jury later found Davis guilty in August.
In an interview with FOX5, Sanft said he would not have done anything differently. “Maybe if I had a psychic sitting next to me to help discern who should be on the jury,” Sanft said.
“We had the best team possible in this case, from the motion practice work on this appeal to our investigator to our firm here at SOS Injury. We all did our part.
I don’t see what I could’ve done differently.”
After the verdict, Sanft also described sitting down with Davis. “We were just sitting there taking in the moment,” Sanft said.
“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, and I said, I understand, I hate to lose.”
Davis’ defense team stated they had planned to appeal the conviction. A notice of appeal was filed on Friday, October 30, according to court records.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates.
