Pathologist details Tupac's fatal wounds in Davis trial

Some members of Tupac Shakur's family have stepped out of the courtroom before prosecutors showed photos from his 1996 autopsy at the Las Vegas trial of Duane "Keffe D" Davis, who is charged with orchestrating the rapper's fatal drive-by shooting.

Lisa Gavin, a forensic pathologist and medical examiner for Clark County, Nevada, was among the early witnesses on the second day of testimony.

Jurors were shown a photo of a green body bag at the beginning of her questioning, followed by a grisly photo of his body.

The bullet entered Shakur's chest near his armpit, Gavin said, and travelled through his chest, including through a lung.

That caused his lung to collapse and bleed, and doctors ultimately removed the damaged lung in an effort to save his life, she said.

Additional bullets damaged his intestines and other parts of his body, she said.

Gavin was not at Shakur's autopsy but was called as an expert witness because the examiner from 30 years ago has since died.

As Gavin explained the autopsy photos, Davis sat still, looking at the screen in front of him.

In Monday's opening statements, Deputy District Attorney Binu Palal told jurors that "Duane Davis did not pull the trigger. But he did plan the shooting in retaliation of the beating of his nephew," and that, "Remarkably, you will learn that from Duane Davis himself".

Davis, 63, could get life in prison if he is convicted of murder with a deadly weapon with the intent to promote, further or assist a criminal gang.

His lawyer in the defence opening called the prosecution's narrative "fiction".

Lawyer Michael Sanft told jurors Davis was not previously charged, despite implicating himself in interviews and his memoir, because law enforcement knew that he was "full of crap".

Jurors were shown video of Shakur's entourage attacking Davis' nephew Orlando "Baby Lane" Anderson outside the boxing match at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas hours before the shooting on September 7, 1996.

Davis spent the next two hours planning how to get even, said Palal, and Shakur was gunned down "in an act of revenge".