BENTONVILLE — Benton County Circuit Judge Brad Karren scheduled a July hearing to determine whether a Bentonville man on death row received ineffective legal representation at his trial for raping and killing a 6-year-old girl.
Zachary Holly, 34, was convicted in 2015 of capital murder, kidnapping, rape and residential burglary. He was sentenced to death, two life terms and 20 years.
A jury found Holly guilty of raping and killing Jersey Bridgeman.
Holly is fighting his conviction and sentence. He filed a Rule 37 petition, which is a claim that he received ineffective assistance from his attorneys during his case.
Karren held a short scheduling hearing Monday morning. The hearing was conducted by video with Holly at the prison and Michael Kaiser, Holly's attorney, in Little Rock.
Kaiser told the judge that he expects to have Holly's final petition filed by the end of February.
Stuart Cearley, Benton County's chief deputy prosecutor, requested 30 to 40 days to file a response to the final petition.
The judge scheduled the hearing for July 29.
Jersey's nude body was found Nov. 20, 2012, in the bedroom closet of an abandoned house next to Holly's home on Southeast A Street in Bentonville. She had been strangled to death with her pajama pants.
Holly later confessed to police to killing the child and a recording of the confession was played to jurors during the trial. Prosecutors presented DNA evidence connecting Holly to the crime.
Holly is currently being held on death row at Varner Supermax.