Duane “Keffe D” Davis, who has been charged with orchestrating the murder of rapper Tupac Shakur, has been granted house arrest if he can post a $750,000 bail set by a Nevada judge.
The former Crips gang member was arrested back in September and charged with organising the infamous 1996 murder of the rapper that has remained unsolved for almost three decades.
Mr Davis, 60, who has pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder, can serve house arrest with electronic monitoring if he can post the bail while he awaits trial in Las Vegas.
He has been held in the Clark County Detention Center in Las Vegas since his arrest and will remain there unless bail is posted.
His court-appointed attorneys asked the judge for bail of no more than $100,000 but told the Associated Press that they believe Mr Davis will still be able to post the bail.
Duane Davis trial is not set to start until June, but his defence team are calling for postponement— (Getty Images)
The defence also noted for the judge that due to the years between the alleged crime and the trial, collecting evidence may require a postponement of the trial date, which is currently slated for 3 June.
While the judge did not set a new trial date, a status check will proceed on 20 February.
The rapper was shot at while at an intersection on the Las Vegas strip in 1996 after a Mike Tyson fight in the city. Mr Davis is not accused of pulling the trigger and has publicly said for years that his nephew was the gunman.
During Tuesday’s court hearing for the request of Mr Davis to be released on house arrest, his attorney, Robert Arroyo, said that his client was not a danger to the community, and if he were to flee, he would have done it years prior.
"If his guilt is so overwhelming, what’s been happening for 15 years?” Mr Arroyo said. “Why did [authorities] wait 15 years to make the arrest?"
They also added that Mr Davis’s health has been in decline recently following a battle with cancer.
Rapper Tupac Shakur attends a voter registration event in South Central Los Angeles in August 1996— (AP)
Despite this, prosecutors claimed that Mr Davis is a “very, very high danger to the community” especially to witnesses who may testify against him later on at trial, saying there should be no bail or a high bail, ABC News reported.
They pointed towards jailhouse phone calls in which a list of witnesses was allegedly given to Mr Davis’s family members.
In one call, the suspect’s son told him that a “green light” order had been given, which prosecutors believe is an authorisation to kill.
During the hearing, prosecutors Binu Palal and Marc DiGiacomo also said that Mr Davis had not left gang life and has made public admissions in the past about being in the shooter’s vehicle when Shakur was shot.
Yet his defence team claimed that his previous statements surrounding the rapper’s death were for entertainment reasons and to make money.
Even if he did not pull the trigger, the prosecutors have maintained that he allegedly is responsible for the murder of Shakur.
Clark County District Attorney Steve Wolfson told reporters that a “source hearing” may be held by Judge Carli Kierny to make sure money posted for bail is legally obtained.
