Tupac Defense Attorney Michael Sanft Dead

Arthur Reed — Down the Middle

Las Vegas defense attorney Michael Sanft, who represented Duane “Keffe D” Davis in the Tupac Shakur murder case, was found dead at his home on Friday, November 6—one week after filing a notice of appeal challenging Davis’s conviction. Sanft was 55.

The Clark County coroner’s office confirmed his death. His cause and manner of death remained pending, and a police spokesperson told the Las Vegas Review-Journal that the death did not appear suspicious.

Court records reviewed by USA TODAY show that Sanft filed the notice of appeal on October 30. The filing began the formal challenge to the conviction of Davis, who had been sentenced in October to 40 years to life in prison.

A jury found Davis guilty in August of first-degree murder with the use of a deadly weapon in connection with Shakur’s 1996 killing. Davis was the only person charged in the case, which reached trial nearly three decades after the shooting.

Sanft publicly expressed disappointment with the verdict and discussed pursuing an appeal. Speaking to FOX5 after sentencing, he defended his legal team’s work and said he and Davis had discussed the next stage of the case.

Sanft served as lead trial attorney at SOS Injury Lawyers. His professional biography credited him with trying more than 150 cases to jury verdict and arguing before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.

He grew up in Tonga and moved with his family to San Diego at age 12. He later served a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and attended Brigham Young University–Hawaii, according to his biography, cited by KTNV.

The one-week interval between the appeal filing and the discovery of Sanft’s body is part of the reported chronology. The available reporting does not establish a connection between his legal work and his death; the coroner’s determination remains pending.

Sources: Las Vegas Review-Journal; USA TODAY, republished by AOL; KTNV.