When Eric Holder, the man accused of killing rapper Nipsey Hussle, pleaded not guilty in Los Angeles on Thursday, he was represented in court by a familiar figure: defense attorney Christopher Darden.
According to the Washington Post, Darden argued against allowing media to take photos and shoot video inside the courtroom, and said that prosecutors have not established that Holder is the correct suspect with certainty.
Though he has headed up his own law firm, Darden & Associates, for two decades, Darden is of course best known for his role in the 1994-1995 O.J. Simpson murder trial. A deputy Los Angeles District Attorney, Darden was brought onto the case first to prosecute Simpson’s friend Al Cowlings, who drove the white Ford Bronco used in Simpson’s infamous low-speed police chase. Darden was then named as co-prosecutor in Simpson’s trial.
During the trial, Darden and co-prosecutor Marcia Clark became household names and were subjected to intense media scrutiny. This only intensified as the trial dragged on, ultimately ending with Simpson’s acquittal. The case was later dramatized in the FX miniseries “The People vs. O.J. Simpson,” in which Darden was portrayed by Sterling K. Brown. You can read more about the bizarre real-life details of O.J. Simpson’s trial here, here and here.
After Darden resigned from the district attorney’s office in 1996, he worked briefly as a law professor at California State University and Southwestern University School of Law. Since 1999 he has focused on his private practice, and has occasionally served as a legal commentator for CNBC, CNN, Court TV, and NBC among other networks.