Duane "Keffe D" Davis, convicted this week of the first-degree murder of rapper Tupac Shakur, has given his first interview since the verdict, insisting he is innocent and expects to have the conviction overturned on appeal. Speaking to The Hollywood Reporter from a Nevada detention centre, Davis, 63, claimed his civil rights were violated during the trial and criticised the use of his 2019 autobiography as key evidence against him, saying he never wrote or reviewed it himself. The conviction is the first to be secured in the nearly 30-year-old case, which prosecutors say stemmed from a drive-by shooting carried out in retaliation for an earlier altercation involving Davis's nephew and Shakur's entourage.

A Las Vegas jury took just three hours to convict Davis on Monday 1 September, a verdict that brought relief to Shakur's family. Davis alleged that FBI agents and police officers lied under oath during the trial and said he chose not to testify on his lawyer's advice, believing it would harm his appeal prospects. His attorney, Michael Sanft, has confirmed plans to appeal. Davis said he had no message for Shakur's relatives, accusing prosecutors of bias, and expressed hope that his two grandsons, both promising American football players, would eventually help secure his release.