FROM:
Nick Muyo, Public Information Officer
(408) 792-2826 CONTACT PERSON:
James Gibbons-Shapiro, Deputy District Attorney
(408) 792-2985 For release on Thursday, June 4, 2009 DAVID LEONARD HOLLAND CONVICTED IN MAY 2009 FOR 2001 COLD CASE BURGLARY AND SEXUAL ASSAULT In 2001, an 81-year-old woman awoke late one night with an intruder on top of her. The suspect threatened her and then sexually assaulted her. Before leaving the house, the suspect made the victim shower with her clothes on and then took all of the phones before fleeing the scene. The victim went to a neighbor’s home and called her daughter. Santa Clara County Sheriff’s deputies investigated the case, recovered the victim’s clothing and processed the evidence. A DNA sample was recovered from the victim’s undergarments which had fallen next to her bed. In 2004, the elderly victim passed away. In 2007, Investigators from this Office were working another cold case homicide/sexual assault from 1983, unrelated to the 2001 case. Christopher Melvin Holland had been identified as a possible suspect in the 1983 case but was on the run from law enforcement. New technology at that time (2007) allowed for DNA evidence to be typed from members of the same family. Christopher Holland’s brothers each gave voluntary DNA samples and Christopher Holland was linked to the 1983 case. Although, Dave Holland gave a sample for the 1983 case, his DNA was run through a database and he was linked to the 2001 sexual assault. He was arrested in 2007 and the case went to trial in May 2009. The case was prosecuted by Deputy District Attorney James Gibbons-Shapiro. A jury convicted Dave Holland on Wednesday, May 27, 2009 on charges of oral copulation. The jury also found true the enhancements for burglary, the victim’s age and a strike prior. He will be sentenced later this summer and is facing a maximum penalty of 56-years-to-life in prison. ###
Nick Muyo, Public Information Officer
(408) 792-2826 CONTACT PERSON:
James Gibbons-Shapiro, Deputy District Attorney
(408) 792-2985 For release on Thursday, June 4, 2009 DAVID LEONARD HOLLAND CONVICTED IN MAY 2009 FOR 2001 COLD CASE BURGLARY AND SEXUAL ASSAULT In 2001, an 81-year-old woman awoke late one night with an intruder on top of her. The suspect threatened her and then sexually assaulted her. Before leaving the house, the suspect made the victim shower with her clothes on and then took all of the phones before fleeing the scene. The victim went to a neighbor’s home and called her daughter. Santa Clara County Sheriff’s deputies investigated the case, recovered the victim’s clothing and processed the evidence. A DNA sample was recovered from the victim’s undergarments which had fallen next to her bed. In 2004, the elderly victim passed away. In 2007, Investigators from this Office were working another cold case homicide/sexual assault from 1983, unrelated to the 2001 case. Christopher Melvin Holland had been identified as a possible suspect in the 1983 case but was on the run from law enforcement. New technology at that time (2007) allowed for DNA evidence to be typed from members of the same family. Christopher Holland’s brothers each gave voluntary DNA samples and Christopher Holland was linked to the 1983 case. Although, Dave Holland gave a sample for the 1983 case, his DNA was run through a database and he was linked to the 2001 sexual assault. He was arrested in 2007 and the case went to trial in May 2009. The case was prosecuted by Deputy District Attorney James Gibbons-Shapiro. A jury convicted Dave Holland on Wednesday, May 27, 2009 on charges of oral copulation. The jury also found true the enhancements for burglary, the victim’s age and a strike prior. He will be sentenced later this summer and is facing a maximum penalty of 56-years-to-life in prison. ###