The tragic murder of Nipsey Hussle all of a sudden has the unfortunate potential to turn into a three-ring circus now that the rapper’s accused killer has found a defense attorney. And it’s not just any old lawyer — it’s Christopher Darden, the disgraced former Los Angeles prosecutor who famously flubbed the OJ Simpson murder trial nearly 25 years ago.
Darden has seemingly been laying relatively low in the decades since he lost what appeared to be an open-and-shut case during what was billed at the trial of the century. And while it’s all but guaranteed that Darden will lose this case, too, to many folks across social media, it was the principle of the matter.
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Yes, every defendant is entitled to counsel. But, then again, Eric Holder — the man charged with murdering Nipsey on Sunday in broad daylight while the rapper was carrying out what would turn out to be his final good deed — isn’t every defendant, now is he?
The 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 when he was gunned down over some petty nonsense that resulted in one count of murder, two counts of attempted murder and one count of possession of a firearm by a felon.
To many observers keeping track with the news, there was no question that Holder was guilty. But there was a question, however, about how exactly Darden was going to be paid, and by whom? After all, Holder was being held on $5 million bail.
Beyond that, many wondered why Darden would even take on a case like this. A close look at Darden’s LinkedIn page showed he specializes in “white collar, narcotics, marijuana, homicide and gang cases,” with the latter two categories being the most applicable in this situation.
But just because he has expertise in a particular area of law doesn’t necessarily mean he should have taken the case that was all but guaranteed to be another loss for Darden.
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.
Now, with Darden representing another figure who’s been widely seen as despicable, Black Twitter couldn’t hold back its venom for a man who, in just a matter of hours on Thursday, worsened an already bad track record when it comes to African-Americans.
Scroll down to see a sample of vicious Black Twitter was treating Darden for representing Holder.
