Appeals Court Upholds Conviction of Nipsey Hussle’s Killer, Eric Holder
Eric Holder, the man convicted in the 2019 killing of rapper Nipsey Hussle, faced a legal setback as California’s Court of Appeal upheld his conviction this week. The decision came on Tuesday (November 5) when judges in the court’s Second District denied Holder’s appeal, affirming the guilty verdict from his 2022 trial.
Holder’s appeal primarily contested two issues. First, his attorneys argued that the trial court erred in blocking part of their closing argument, which asked the jury to consider Holder’s state of mind before the shooting. However, the appeals court determined that such inferences lacked supporting evidence, as Holder had not testified nor provided insights into his mental state. The court’s ruling stated, “Appellant did not testify, and no other evidence about what appellant was thinking or feeling prior to the shooting was presented to the jury.”
The appeal also challenged the firearm enhancement attached to Holder’s sentence, arguing that it was improperly applied. The appeals court rejected this argument as well, concluding that the trial court had acted within its discretion in enforcing the enhancement.
The tragic murder of Nipsey Hussle sent shockwaves through the music industry, and his loss continues to resonate within the hip-hop community. Reflecting this ongoing impact, rapper Freddie Gibbs recently addressed Nipsey’s death in his new song, “On the Set,” released with his album You Only Die 1nce on Halloween. In the track, Gibbs reveals that the 2019 shooting almost made him consider stepping away from music, expressing the profound effect it had on him and his peers.
Beyond Nipsey’s loss, Gibbs’s lyrics in “On the Set” also reflect on other influential figures and events in hip-hop history, including the deaths of 2Pac, Biggie, Young Dolph, and Frankie Beverly, as well as recent developments involving Diddy.