A major legal figure tied to one of hip-hop’s most consequential court cases has passed away, after news broke that Keffe D’s lawyer found dead in his Nevada home was 55-year-old defense attorney Michael Sanft.
Colleagues and authorities confirmed that Sanft’s body was discovered inside his Las Vegas residence on Friday morning. The Clark County Coroner’s Office verified his passing shortly after local emergency teams responded to the address.
Investigators with the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department said initial evidence shows no signs of foul play. Police stated that the death does not appear suspicious, though they referred all formal inquiries regarding medical findings to the coroner's office.
Coroner investigators reported that both the cause and manner of death remain pending toxicology tests and forensic examination.
Leading the Defense in Historic Tupac Trial
Sanft gained international attention earlier this year when he served as lead defense counsel for Duane "Keffe D" Davis. Davis was the sole individual ever criminally indicted for orchestrating the fatal September 1996 drive-by shooting of rap superstar Tupac Shakur on the Las Vegas Strip.
Sanft represented Davis pro bono through his private practice at SOS Injury Lawyers. Throughout the high-profile summer trial, he pushed back against prosecutors' arguments, asserting that Davis’s past confessions and published memoirs were exaggerated street tales designed to generate money and celebrity.
Despite Sanft’s courtroom advocacy, a Clark County jury convicted the 63-year-old former gang leader in August of first-degree murder with a deadly weapon.
Last month, the presiding district judge sentenced Davis to 40 years to life in Nevada state prison.
Shock Follows Recent Notice of Appeal
Members of the Nevada legal community voiced shock over the sudden loss, particularly because Keffe D’s lawyer found dead had just initiated formal legal steps to challenge his client's conviction.
Just days before his death, Sanft filed an official notice of appeal with the Nevada appellate courts on behalf of Davis. While expressing disappointment with the jury's verdict, he maintained that important legal issues warranted review by higher judges.
Court analysts noted that with Keffe D’s lawyer found dead, the state court will now have to appoint new appellate counsel to take over Davis’s post-conviction motions and legal briefs.
A Longstanding Career in Nevada Courts
Born in the Pacific island nation of Tonga, Sanft moved to San Diego as a youth before building a distinguished legal practice in the American West.
He earned his law degree from Brigham Young University and gained admission to the State Bar of Nevada in 2002. Over more than twenty years, he handled over 150 jury trials to verdict and argued complex matters before the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.
Local attorneys remembered him as a dedicated advocate who handled difficult defenses with professionalism. Memorial services and private funeral arrangements will be announced by his family in the coming days.
