BENTON COUNTY, ARKANSAS, Ark — A hearing held in Benton County Circuit Court on Monday discussed whether convicted killer and rapist Zachary Holly's attorneys were ineffective during his 2015 trial.
On Wednesday, May 20, 2015, the jury found Holly guilty and sentenced him to death for murder, kidnapping, and rape after 6-year-old Jersey Bridgeman's body was found in a vacant house.
Holly lived next door to Jersey in a trailer on SE A Street in Bentonville, and police found Jersey's body minutes after her mother reported her missing on Nov. 20, 2012. According to court records, Holly and his wife babysat the child while her parents worked the night she died.
The prosecution argued that Holly kidnapped Jersey sometime after midnight, raped her, and strangled her to death. Holly was sentenced to the death penalty after he was found guilty during his 2015 trial in Benton County.
In documents filed ahead of the hearing on Monday, Oct. 30, 2023, Holly's lawyers argued that his trial attorneys were ineffective and that he had an unfair trial.
During the recent hearings, the prosecution stated that a state doctor testified that he was fit to stand trial, and criminally responsible for his conduct.
They claim his trial lawyers should have gone deeper into the evidence surrounding Holly's childhood and how it affected his mental illness long-term. They say his trial lawyers erroneously did not provide an expert on the stand to testify about Holly's mother's alleged drug and alcohol use during her pregnancy with Holly, and how that impacted him.
The lawyers also argue that his defense during the trial didn't obtain unredacted files from DHS which reportedly investigated sexual and physical abuse against Holly when he was a minor, according to filings.
Benton County Prosecuting Attorney Joshua Robinson Jr. explains "He's gone through the state appeals process, and now he's on a state rule 37 for ineffective assistance of counsel. After this, there may be some other avenues in federal court that he can try to explore. And he'll have every opportunity to do that. And once he's exhausted those possibilities, and the verdict and the sentence are upheld, then he'll be given an execution date."
Robinson said the prosecutor's office has kept in contact with the victim's family, "It's hard to imagine the strain that this must be for them," Robinson said. "It's always a trying thing for victims' families to go through the exhaustive appeal process that just takes years and years. But we are going to keep showing up and keep fighting for Jersey every time there's a hearing that becomes appealed. We'll be here."
Day two of the hearing consisted of testimonies from former defense attorney Robbie Golden who represented Holly during the 2015 trial, along with two different psychologists. On Monday, former defense attorney Ken Macklemore also testified and reviewed the investigation while looking at the mitigation evidence and the reasons why they made certain choices during the 2015 trial.
One of the psychologists diagnosed Holly with stress-related adjustment disorders, a personality disorder, a dependency on meth and cannabis, along with a learning disorder as a result of childhood trauma. The psychologist also revealed those with fetal alcohol spectrum disorder usually have basic characteristics of wide-spread eyes and thin lips, none of which Holly has.
Bill James, Holly's new attorney says "[Holly's mother] reported to one of the attorneys that she was drinking while she was pregnant, but stopped when she found out. There are different reports about what she has said, and she denies it. We're gonna put forward experts that are going to explain to the court that very commonly, women who drink while they're pregnant deny it. I mean, it's a self-defense mechanism"
Robinson said if Holy were to get a new trial, prosecutors would still try to seek the death penalty, "The end goal of my office is for the 2015 verdict of the jury, stating guilt and a sentence of death, to be upheld."
The court hearings won't be complete until late November.
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