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Jenna Ellis: I love talking about the things of God. Because of truth and the biblical worldview. The U.S. constitution obligates our government to preserve and protect the rights that our founders recognize come from God our creator, not our government. I believe that scripture in the Bible is very clear that God is the one that raised up each of you. And God has allowed us to be brought here to this specific moment in time. This is Jenna Ellis in the Morning.
A murder trial for Tupac Shakur is beginning; the murder remains unsolved
Jenna Ellis: Good morning. It is Monday, August 17, and a lot of news to get to. And, first we're going to take you back 30 years ago. Do you remember Tupac Shakur? And he was, he was killed obviously 30 years ago. The murder has remained unsolved until possibly, now. So a murder trial is actually beginning. And if you remember, nearly 30 years ago, he was killed in a drive by shooting in Las Vegas, Nevada. And So one of four men in a white Cadillac, fired 13 shots into the 25 year old rap legends vehicle. It's coming from Time. I'm not necessarily calling him a rap legend, though I think that's probably an appropriate title. But this is according to time reporting from September 1996. So Shakur was writing, with the co founder of Death Row Records, Marion, Knight. Knight was grazed by a bullet but survived. And Tupac was shot multiple times. And one, a bullet tore through his lung and he was pronounced dead at the hospital six days later on September 13, 1996. The events that unfolded have been the subject of many true crime documentaries, books and podcasts. But one fundamental question remained unsolved. Who was responsible? So who is on trial for the murder of Tupac and why now? So let's welcome in Gerard Felitti, who is an attorney at the Lawfare Project and one of our favorite, legal experts to weigh in.
Dwayne Davis is accused of shooting and killing Tupac in 1982
So Gerard, this, this is really fascinating. When I saw the headline, I thought, wow, I thought this would never be solved. This was kind of something, you know, I remember from the 90s. But, what's going on now?
Gerard Filitti: Well, what's going on now is that the person who is on trial, Dwayne Davis, actually wrote a book about this a few years ago in 2019. and in that book, in his memoir, he talks about the murder and his role in it. So that opened the door, prosecuting the case, because it really stands out as pretty much an admission. so this case being brought, the star witness for the prosecution is actually the defendant himself, who put in writing his memoirs, what actually happened that night, or a lot of it.
Jenna Ellis: Yeah, that's really fascinating. And so, what came to. I mean, what has happened in the last 30 years to finally get to this moment of a trial?
Gerard Filitti: Well, what happened is the case was never really dropped. There were more investigations in it over the years. And back in 2008, the person, Dwayne Davis, who is now being charged, gave an interview with federal law enforcement under a proffer agreement, in which he discussed some of the facts around the shooting. So law enforcement has known for years who was involved. It was just a matter of bringing charges. And of the four people in the car that. That shot that killed Tupac, three of the four are dead. the only one who's still alive is the one who's currently on trial.
Gerard Filitti: So it took a while to get
Gerard Filitti: to this point, especially because when you're giving testimony under a proffer agreement, that means that it can't be used by the, prosecution in court against you. So between 2008 and now, the really changing factor was that this guy actually was stupid enough to publish his memoir to discuss this, and that opened the door to bringing him to trial.
Gerard Filitti: Wow.
Jenna Ellis: Which, I mean, which just shows that some people are not considering the full, extent of liability in, their own public statements and, perhaps, memoirs. And the defense is arguing that those accounts, were embellished or fictionalized. And so, where Nevada is prosecuting, and this is just through, accomplice liability, you know, as you mentioned, they aren't alleging that Davis was actually the shooter. So what exactly does the state have to prove about his participation in the plot and, actually successfully prosecute?
Gerard Filitti: Well, he's being charged with murder with
Gerard Filitti: deadly weapon, with intent to promote further or assist the criminal gang. And as you said, that is basically accomplished liability that you don't need to pull the trigger. You need to be involved in, the factors that brought about the death. So here the prosecution is going to try to establish that he obtained the gun, which he says to he did, and that he passed it to someone in the backseat of the car, which in his memoirs he says he did, who ended up shooting and killing Tupac. So that is the chain that the prosecution will use to establish his guilt of murder. And ah, ultimately again, it's his own words that are going to be used against him. And to your point, and it's a great point, his argument is now going to be that the account is embellished, it's fictionalized, he made it up. The problem with that is he's gone on basically on a book tour pushing, you know, people need to buy this book to find the truth about what happened. So again, his own words will be used against him.
Jenna Ellis: Wow. And you know, there are a lot of, a lot of lawyers who have over the years told their clients in many situations, you know, just remain silent so that your words cannot be used against you. And I think this is one of those cautionary tales where this is, this is exactly why attorneys advise that, because even 30 years later now his own words are being used against him. So it's going to be really fascinating to see the outcome of that trial.
Mangione pleads guilty to federal charges of stalking; state case remains open
And let's turn as well to another interesting case that is, you know, more in the present day, because on Friday, on, on August 14th, Luigi Ah, Mangione, who listeners, will recall, was charged in the killing of the United Healthcare CEO in NewSong York, back in December of 2024, that assassination of CEO Brian Thompson. He's now pleaded guilty to federal charges of stalking, resulting in the death. And so, how crucial is this plea agreement? Because you know, he was obviously charged with murder. And so, where does this wrap up this this entire case?
Gerard Filitti: The short answer to that is we
Gerard Filitti: won't know for a while because the two separate cases, the federal one and the NewSong York state one. So this resolves the federal case. Now what happens next in that case is he gets interviewed by probation, there's a pre sentence report, and there's a hearing in December where he will be sentenced, but the state case remains open. And there he faces charges as well, with a possible sentence of 25 years in prison. and what his lawyers are arguing is that this is double jeopardy under NewSong York state law. Now normally you can bring charges in both state and federal courts for the same crime and it's not double jeopardy unless the state law says it is. And, and Mangioni's lawyers are arguing that
Gerard Filitti: under NewSong York law, this conviction, this
Gerard Filitti: plea bars him from being p