Closing arguments are set to begin today (June 30) in the trial of Eric Ronald Holder Jr., who is charged with first-degree murder in Nipsey Hussle’s 2019 killing and the attempted murder of two other men struck by gunfire.
Both sides rested their case on Wednesday (June 29) after a delay because of an assault on the defendant by jail inmates, the Associated Press reports. According to the Associated Press, Holder appeared in court with swollen eyes and staples closing a wound in the back of his head. His attorney Aaron Jansen said he was punched and cut with a razor by two inmates while waiting in a holding cell to come to court on Tuesday. Holder didn't take the stand during his trial.
The entire trial has reportedly been defined by "snitching" — from the alleged motive to the prosecution witnesses' reluctance to testify. Nipsey's friend who served as a pallbearer at his funeral and was standing next to him when he was shot, Evan “Rimpau” MacKenzie, repeatedly ignored subpoenas ordering him to appear and testify for the prosecution, resulting in a bench warrant with $500,000 bail.