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The man convicted of killing Nipsey Hussle tried to appeal his 2022 conviction, but has been shut down by an appeals court.
Eric Holder, the man convicted in a 2022 trial of killing Nipsey Hussle, filed an appeal which has been denied by Calfornia’s Court of Appeal. Judges in the court’s Second Appellate District upheld the guilty verdict against Holder on Tuesday, November 5.
Holder’s appeal hinged on two primary factors. First, it focused on the belief that the court was wrong to disallow part of his attorney’s closing argument, which addressed his supposed state of mind. Secondly, it focused on whether a firearm enhancement had correctly been added to Holder’s sentence. He lost both arguments.
“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 decision reads. “Thus, the inferences about appellant’s specific thoughts and feelings that defense counsel purported to draw were not based on the evidence.”
“The trial court fully understood and properly exercised its discretion when it declined to dismiss the firearm enhancement,” the decision continues. “The People reiterated their request to sentence appellant to a term of 60 years to life, noting the high degree of cruelty, viciousness, and callousness appellant exhibited in killing [Nipsey Hussle], and the devastating impact the murder had on the community.”
Eric Holder’s killing of Nipsey Hussle in 2019 caused a massive ripple effect on the hip-hop industry. Artists like Freddie Gibbs have admitted the murder of the California rapper nearly made him quit music altogether.
Gibbs’ new track, “On the Set,” references his thoughts on retiring from the industry when he heard about Nipsey’s murder. Further, his new album, You Only Die 1nce, also sees him rapping about the arrest of Sean “Diddy” Combs and the deaths of Tupac Shakur, Biggie Smalls, Rich Homie Quan, and more.