The killing this week of Nipsey Hussle, a rapper and advocate for the communities of South Los Angeles, sent a painful tremor throughout those neighborhoods and the music industry. Now the man charged in his death, Eric Holder, is being represented by another Los Angeles figure: Christopher Darden, who became a household name when he helped prosecute — unsuccessfully — O.J. Simpson in 1995 for the deaths of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald L. Goldman. Here’s a look at Mr. Darden, the man who famously asked Mr. Simpson to try on the bloody glove. What has Mr. Darden been doing since the Simpson trial? After leaving the district attorney’s office, Mr. Darden worked as a law professor, and was a co-writer on several legal thrillers as well as “In Contempt,” a behind-the-scenes account of the Simpson case that The New York Times called “powerful and affecting.” The Times’s review noted the personal consequences that Mr. Darden said he suffered as Mr. Simpson’s lead lawyer, Johnnie L. Cochran Jr., manipulated the issue of race during the trial: “The defense lawyer’s suggestion that Mr. Darden was a token black recruited by the prosecution team for the color of his skin led to accusations, on the street, that he was ‘an Uncle Tom, a sellout, a house Negro,’ Mr. Darden says. He writes that he received death threats and was spat upon, and that his family, too, was harassed.”<doc-sep>Eric Holder, the 29-year-old aspiring rapper who is accused of fatally shooting Nipsey Hussle on Sunday, was charged during a court appearance Thursday afternoon with one count of murder, two counts of attempted murder and one count of possession of a firearm by a felon. His attorney, Chris Darden, entered a plea of not guilty in the tightly packed, heavily guarded downtown courtroom. Holder, clad in a light blue jail shirt and pants and shackled at the wrists, stood in a glassed enclosure and was flanked by several deputies. He leaned back slightly with his chin up, exposing an array of neck tattoos, and frequently glanced at onlookers. Holder has received numerous social media threats, and deputies noticeably scrutinized the courtroom. After being questioned by Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Teresa T. Sullivan, Holder made a brief comment, agreeing to delay the next court proceeding until May 10. The judge set Holder’s bail at $5 million. Darden is best known as one of the prosecutors during the O.J. Simpson trial. The criminal complaint, using his given name Eric Ronald Holder Jr., also includes allegations that Holder personally used a firearm and caused great bodily injury and death. Advertisement Holder was arrested Tuesday on suspicion of killing Hussle and wounding two other people in the attack. Inside the manhunt for suspect in Nipsey Hussle shooting » Darden told reporters he had to get on a plane. Prosecutor John McKinney said it was his understanding that Darden had been privately retained for Holder. Darden was one of the prosecutors in the Simpson trial, in which the former football star was acquitted of the murders of his ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and Ron Goldman. But in the years since, Darden has worked as a defense attorney in murder cases. In the brief court appearance, Darden argued unsuccessfully to keep media cameras from filming his client during the arraignment hearing, saying he believed there was an “issue of identity.” McKinney told the judge that Holder’s photograph had been widely disseminated in the media and that “identity won’t ultimately be an issue in this case.” Outside court, McKinney declined to say whether detectives had recovered the handgun used in the shooting. Hussle, a celebrated rapper and community activist, was outside his shop on Slauson Avenue when a man approached and opened fire. Hussle was fatally wounded, and two others were also shot. Police alleged Holder had gotten into a dispute with Hussle earlier in the day and returned with a gun and started shooting. He then fled in a waiting car, police said. Advertisement Graphic video from a surveillance camera shows a gunman walking up to Hussle and two other men in front of the shop. The gunman opens fire, and Hussle falls to the ground as the other men run from the gunfire. Holder went by the moniker Fly Mac. His Instagram handle was “ima_god_in_da_streetz.” He sang of body bags, “38 gun blasts” and bloody homicides. Holder is believed to be a gang member, LAPD Chief Michel Moore said, but police do not believe the shooting had anything to do with gang rivalries. Holder was convicted in 2012 of carrying a loaded firearm and was sentenced to 180 days in jail and three years of probation, court records show. A two-day manhunt ended Tuesday when a resident in Bellflower told authorities a man matching the description of Holder was walking down Artesia Boulevard. Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies found Holder standing in the parking lot of a business. Advertisement Confronted by deputies, he offered no resistance and surrendered without incident. The woman who drove the getaway car turned herself in to authorities Monday and is continuing to cooperate with detectives. She has not been arrested, said Josh Rubenstein, the Los Angeles Police Department’s director of communications. According to two sources familiar with the investigation, the woman has insisted to detectives that she never knew Holder intended to harm Hussle and became aware of the shooting only in the aftermath. The role of the driver remains an issue of debate in the Hyde Park community where the shooting occurred. Advertisement Community activist Najee Ali is calling for the immediate arrest of the driver.<doc-sep>“I knew they made a lot of money, dressed nicely, and had power, commodities that I had in short supply,” he wrote. “When you grow up in Richmond, it can be intoxicating to imagine a way out. Being a lawyer was like that for me. I had no sense of what a lawyer did; it was like imagining some far-off place you’d never been, some fantastic land where you could drive whatever you wanted and eat as much as you could.”<doc-sep>“We believe she knew that Nipsey and (Holder) had a serious argument and a fight previously. We don’t believe she was naïve. And number two, she didn’t turn herself in until two days later – until the community identified her,” Ali, founder of Project Islamic HOPE, told the Daily News on Thursday.<doc-sep>
Click to email this to a friend (Opens in new window) Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window) Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) The man accused of killing Nipsey Hussle is being represented by former prosecutor Chris Darden — who famously served on the OJ Simpson murder trial. Appearing in court Thursday with his client, Darden entered a not guilty plea before exiting and dodging questions from reporters. He claimed to have a plane to catch, according to the LA Times. While in court, Darden tried — unsuccessfully — to get the use of television cameras barred from the proceedings, saying there was an “issue of identity,” the Times reports. Prosecutor John McKinney argued that “identity won’t ultimately be an issue in this case” since the media has already obtained photos of Eric Holder, Hussle’s alleged killer. The aspiring rapper, who goes by the nickname Fly Mac, is accused of fatally shooting Hussle on Sunday outside his LA clothing store. Cops say Holder got into a dispute with him earlier in the day and returned with a gun. Surveillance footage shows the alleged gangbanger opening fire on Hussle and two other men, who were also struck by bullets but managed to survive, according to police. Holder faces life in prison if convicted. Darden’s services appear to have been privately retained for Holder, the Times reports. The ex-prosecutor is best known for his work on the Simpson trial, but he’s been serving as a defense lawyer in murder cases as of late. He’s been very vocal about his time on the Simpson case and the controversial verdict. “I would have done lots of things differently,” Darden said during a 2017 “Ask Me Anything” session on Reddit. “Had you been a criminal defense attorney at the time, would you have had a problem defending O.J. ?” pondered one user. “No,” Darden replied.