Zachary Holly v. State of Arkansas

── Zachary Holly v. State of Arkansas ── Court: Supreme Court of Arkansas Date: April 16, 2026 Category: General Cite as 2026 Ark. 61 SUPREME COURT OF ARKANSAS No. CR-24-703 Opinion Delivered: April 16, 2026 ZACHARY HOLLY APPELLANT APPEAL FROM THE BENTON V. COUNTY CIRCUIT COURT [NO. O4CR-13-1] STATE OF ARKANSAS APPELLEE HONORABLE BRAD KARREN, JUDGE AFFIRMED. COURTNEY RAE HUDSON, Associate Justice Appellant Zachary Holly, who was convicted of capital murder, rape, kidnapping, and residential burglary and received the death penalty, appeals from the Benton County Circuit Court’s denial of his petition for postconviction relief. For reversal, Holly argues that (1) trial counsel was ineffective for failing to investigate and present evidence of the extensive sexual abuse Holly experienced as a child; (2) trial counsel was ineffective for failing to investigate, develop, and present evidence of Holly’s fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD) and its effect on his functioning and judgment; (3) trial counsel performed ineffectively by neglecting Holly’s lack of a significant criminal history on the penalty phase verdict form; (4) trial counsel wrongly conceded Holly’s guilt without his knowledge or consent; (5) trial counsel rendered ineffective assistance by failing to ensure that the jury found unanimously, and without a reasonable doubt, that Holly committed a specific type of capital murder that satisfied a specific aggravating circumstance; and (6) Holly was prejudiced by the cumulative effect of trial counsel’s multiple acts of deficient performance. We affirm. On January 2, 2013, the State filed a criminal information charging Holly with the capital murder, kidnapping, and rape of a six-year-old neighbor girl, Minor Child (MC), on November 20, 2012. Holly was also charged with residential burglary. At the twelve- day jury trial in May 2015, the following evidence was presented in support of the charges: The victim, [MC], was a six-year-old girl that Holly and his wife Amanda often babysat while her mother, DesaRae Crouch, was at work. Both Holly and his wife had a key to the house where the victim lived. Holly confessed to entering the residence by an unlocked side door after [MC]’s mother had gone to sleep. He went to the child’s room, woke her, picked her up, and carried her to a nearby vacant house. Holly stated that after removing the child’s pants, he “tried to stick it in,” meaning penetrate the victim’s vagina with his penis. Holly recalled that he then tied the child’s pants in a knot around her neck and twisted the pants until she stopped kicking. Holly v. State, 2017 Ark. 201, at 2, 520 S.W.3d 677, 680. After strangling MC, Holly then dragged her by her hair and the pajama pants still wrapped around her neck into a closet, closed the closet door, and went home. Holly stated in his confession that he attempted to put his penis inside MC for approximately five minutes and that he killed her so that she would not tell anyone what he had done. The medical examiner testified that the cause of death was strangulation and that MC’s vagina had been penetrated. Semen found on MC’s pajama shirt matched Holly’s DNA, and swabs of MC’s vagina and rectum revealed semen that was consistent with Holly’s DNA. After hearing the evidence, the jury convicted Holly of all charges. Id. 2  During the penalty phase of the trial, the State presented victim-impact testimony from MC’s mother, grandmother, and kindergarten teacher. The defense called twelve mitigati