Asked to choose between two depictions of Andrew Montgomery “Andy” Holland, a Pulaski County jury sided with prosecutors Thursday who called the convicted sex offender a force of destruction who left broken men in his wake.
The seven women and five men rejected defense claims that Holland was the victim of a smear campaign, finding the 49-year-old Little Rock man guilty of first- and second-degree sexual assaults for molesting two Little Rock boys years ago.
Holland was sentenced to 40 years in prison, a punishment that will keep him behind bars until he is 89 years old. At sentencing, a 37-year old accuser from California called Holland the “monster in my closet” who has haunted him since he was 12.
Prosecutors told jurors that Holland repeatedly targeted troubled boys being raised by poor, single mothers who were overwhelmed by the burden of both raising a family and providing for their children.
Holland would manipulate woman and child until he had gained their trust so he could indulge his “depraved sexual instinct” on the boy, deputy prosecutor Jill Kamps told the jury.
Holland could tell what each boy was lacking in life - whether it was love, a way to make music, a place to live or a new pair of shoes - and he supplied it, all with the purpose of getting at vulnerable children, she said. He returned to that pattern repeatedly through the years and deliberately surrounded himself with young men in his home, she said.
Kamps called on jurors to consider the emotion in the faces of Holland’s accusers as they recounted during the trial what he had done to them. She also asked jurors not to look at them as the men they are now but the boys they were when Holland preyed on them, some as long as 25 years ago.
“They weren’t the men they are today. They were just boys. I want you to keep that in mind,” she said. “There is nothing about coming in here and telling 12 strangers what happened to you that is not embarrassing. They were young boys who needed something and were taken advantage of. You saw their faces. You saw the emotions as they told you what happened to them.”
With his sex convictions disclosed to jurors, Holland’s attorneys admitted that he had made “horrible” mistakes as a young man.
But he had taken his punishment, learned his lesson and turned his life into a positive example for directionless young men by finding them jobs, providing them shelter and encouraging them to pursue an eduction, the lawyers said.
Proof of the weakness in the case was the prosecution’s reliance on crimes Holland committed 25 years ago in another state during a “dark, dark time in his life,” defense attorney Erin Cassinelli told jurors. Do not convict Holland because of his past, she said.
“Look for the facts. Don’t let your emotions, your prejudices and fears affect your verdict,” Cassinelli said in her closing argument. “You are not here to punish him for the past.”
Holland was particularly vulnerable to sexual-abuse accusations because of his past, she said. The defense denounced his two victims, now 20 and 18 years old, as liars who had gotten themselves in trouble, then scapegoated Holland to try and divert attention away from their bad behavior. The men’s stories were too inconsistent to be believed, Cassinelli said.
“You don’t forget the truth. You don’t get confused by it … if you’re telling the truth. When you lie, it’s hard to tell the same story twice,” she said. “[The accusations against Holland] got them some sympathy. Instead of being the offenders, they became the victims.”
The jurors deliberated about 75 minutes to find Holland guilty and spent about 12 minutes on sentencing to recommend Circuit Judge Barry Sims impose the 40-year minimum available for a felon like Holland. Because he has 1989 child-molestation convictions in California, Holland is not eligible for parole.
Prosecutors had sought a life sentence. A longtime friend, father of three Chris Maris of Little Rock, asked jurors to give Holland what mercy they could considering the 40-year minimum penalty required by law.
With Holland not testifying, his attorneys called two witnesses who had lived with him between 2006 and 2010 when the men said they were molested.
Both Darin “Speedy” Whitmore Jr., 25, and his ex-girlfriend, 23-year-old Dynasty Lunon, testified that Holland’s home was so small with guests so often visiting to use Holland’s in-home music studio, there was no way Holland could have ever been alone with either victim or committed any assault without anyone knowing about it. Both said they never saw Holland act inappropriately.
The defense also presented four men - Marcus Johnson, 28; Derrick Veasley, 26; Kevin Hubbard, 27; and Mario Hubbard, 30 - whom Holland had either lived with, socialized with or befriended as teenagers who told jurors that he had been a positive influence in their lives.
The trial was Holland’s second after a jury in April could not reach a verdict, causing a mistrial. Prosecutors presented two additional accusers for Holland’s second trial, one of his California victims and a Little Rock man who testified that Holland had sodomized him in 1999.
He has been designated by state authorities as a sexually violent predator, a classification he is challenging in court. He faces a separate trial on a charge of failing to register as a sex offender.
Arkansas, Pages 11 on 10/25/2013