The judge slammed the brakes on Duane "Keefe D" Davis's sentencing this week in a courtroom surprise straight out of a legal drama. The pause is not over newfound evidence of the crime, though there's more and more of that each day over what may have been spoken over a sandwich at lunch.
Keefe D, who earlier this year was found guilty for his part in a detention center melee, was on the path toward sentencing, and he was facing two to 12 years in the slammer. But that road has a huge detour sign these days, a big one too, because of a jaw-dropper of a claim that one of the jurors may have let their own time in the joint spill into the jury room, to be precise, over the lunch break.
His defense team is crying foul, arguing the juror recounted stories about fights between inmates from their own lives and accusations that might have unduly influenced the rest of the jury before formal deliberations even began. That kind of chitchat is strictly off-limits, particularly beyond the parameters of the evidence presented in court.
It's not like Judge Nadia Krall brushed off the claim. She even sided with the defense on the alleged conversation being deemed "newly discovered evidence." The result is the evidentiary hearing is now scheduled for July 2, 2025, and all 14 jurors and a key witness are to be summoned back and questioned under oath.
This hearing could be the make or break for Keefe D's camp. They are seeking a new trial, arguing that even an offhand jury remark could have changed the minds of the entire discipline panel and violated his constitutional right to an impartial panel.
Keefe D's legal saga does not end with the detention center dust-up. He is also accused of a far more serious crime, a high-profile murder case related to the 1996 slaying of the rap superstar Tupac Shakur. That trial has already been pushed back until 2026 as prosecutors gather evidence for what could be one of the most closely watched court fights of recent decades, and Keefe D has entered a plea of not guilty in that case.
For now, the issue is whether a juror's lunchtime story about jail violence served up a premature straw poll on Keefe D's brawl conviction. Should Judge Krall determine that the chatter affected the verdict, the door may be opened very wide for a retrial.
So, as Keefe D sits waiting to be sentenced on one charge and gearing up to go to trial for murder down the line, this most recent legal hiccup at least confirms sometimes, what goes on outside the courtroom ends up being the noisiest moment in the one inside.
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