The lawyer defending Nipsey Hussle‘s accused murderer has decided to quit the case after he and his family were exposed to a series of death threats. Christopher Darden, who most notably was the Los Angeles prosecutor who failed to secure a guilty verdict in O.J. Simpson‘s 1995 murder trial, didn’t step down silently, though.
Eric Holder was facing a murder charge for allegedly gunning down the rapper in broad daylight on March 31 in Los Angeles. He managed to retain Darden less than a week later.
Darden made his unexpected announcement Friday via his Facebook page.
“To those who issued those threats to my children please pay close attention so there is no misunderstanding. Later. F**K YOU!” Darden wrote.
His fell Facebook statement follows below.
Darden’s daughter spoke last month about the death threats her family as received.
“I’ve been receiving vile comments and messages since news broke that my father, Chris Darden, is the defense attorney for the man accused of killing Nipsey Hussle,” Jenee Darden wrote on Instagram. “Like many of you, I found out about my father’s involvement in the case while scrolling through social media. I was not prepared for this backlash that has triggered bad memories from the O.J. Simpson Trial. My father is a grown man and has been a defense attorney for some time. I have no say in the cases he takes on.”
The Blast reported that “most expected Holder to be represented by a public defender. According to documents in Holder’s prior cases, this is the first time he has had private counsel.”
Holder, a failed rapper whose street name was Shitty Cuz, has become public enemy No. 1 in Los Angeles, where Nipsey was literally giving back to his community. The 29-year-old was arrested on April 2. He was found in Bellflower, California, which is located in southeast Los Angeles.
He has been charged with one count of murder, two counts of attempted murder and one count of possession of a firearm by a felon.
As some might remember, Darden experienced some major legal fumbles while unsuccessfully trying to prosecute OJ Simpson in the 1995 trial. He’s the one who forced OJ to try on gloves that didn’t fit, unwittingly helping to give birth to the late defense lawyer Johnnie Cochrane‘s famous saying: “If the glove doesn’t fit, you must acquit.”
Darden also began a romantic affair with his co-prosecutor Marcia Clark, something that many thought could have served as a distraction to the matter at hand of convicting a defendant who had all the hallmarks of someone who was guilty. The tryst with Clark prompted many Black folks to call Darden a sellout despite the irony behind that fact that he was prosecuting a case against OJ the football stat who had long spurned Black women.
SEE ALSO:
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