File photo by JEFFREY HASTINGS Dale Holloway Jr. is escorted from the courtroom following a recent hearing in Superior Court in Manchester.

MANCHESTER – Dale Holloway Jr., the Manchester man accused of shooting up a Pelham wedding last year then seriously injuring his public defender in a jailhouse assault, is asking a judge to allow him to fire his current lawyers and proceed pro se, according to one of two recent motions Holloway filed in Hillsborough County Superior Court North.

Both motions have to do with the assault case, in which Holloway, 37, is charged with one count of first-degree assault – serious bodily injury’ two counts of second-degree assault – serious bodily injury; and two counts of assault by prisoner – first (or) second-degree assault.

The charges allege Holloway attacked public defender Michael Davidow during an Oct. 21 meeting at Valley Street jail.

Davidow, who is associated with the Nashua office of New Hampshire Public Defender, sustained multiple serious injuries, including a subarachnoid hemorrage and fractured nasal bones, according to the indictments. He has since returned to work.

In the other motion, Holloway is asking Hillsborough North Judge Diane Nicolosi to withdraw the waiver of speedy trial his lawyers, Donna J. Brown and Brian T. Lee, filed back in March.

File photo by JEFFREY HASTINGS Dale Holloway Jr. listens to the proceedings during a court appearance in January.

In the motion, which Nicolosi subsequently granted, Brown and Lee agreed to waive the six-month deadline for trial or other disposition, which incarcerated defendants are guaranteed by state statute.

Holloway wrote that he wants the motion withdrawn, and asks the court “to require the case to go forward as scheduled,” citing “the delays of Hillsborough South.”

Holloway is referring to his other case, which is being heard in Hillsborough South in Nashua. It stems from allegations he entered the New England Pentecostal Church in Pelham during a wedding ceremony, brandished a handgun, shot the bride, then allegedly shot and seriously wounded the bishop performing the ceremony.

The charges from that alleged incident, which took place on Oct. 12, include one count each of attempted murder, first-degree assault, second-degree assault, felon in possession of a firearm and simple assault.

The delays he cites involve the judge’s decision to continue all in-person hearings in response to the COVID-19 virus threat. The judge, Charles Temple, first issued the order on March 19, then renewed it on May 19.

In between those continuances, Holloway in early April filed a motion for bail review and “reconsideration for personal recognizance bail … due to the global crisis” created by COVID-19.

The motion noted that Holloway has asthma, which he asserted makes him a high risk for being infected with the virus. He suggested the court consider releasing him on home confinement under “strict conditions” and tight supervision.

“Jail populations are hotbeds for the spread of COVID-19 … it remains unclear if jails are capable of handling the severe health risk the virus poses,” the motion states.

Holloway was granted a hearing, but his request was subsequently denied. He then appealed the decision to the state Supreme Court, which later accepted the case. A ruling is pending.

Meanwhile, documents in Holloway’s other case – the alleged Pelham church shooting – indicate the parties are in negotiations for a possible plea agreement.

Following the most recent hearing – a dispositional conference held just last week – Temple set a deadline of Aug. 1 for the parties to settle pending issues involving suppression and motions in limine, according to his order.

Temple also notes that a plea offer had been made, but it was rejected.

He also wrote in the order that if the parties cannot reach a plea deal, or they don’t file a NIP – notice of intent to plea – by the deadline, the case will move forward to the discovery stage and trial will be scheduled.

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Dean Shalhoup may be reached at 594-1256 or dshalhoup@nashuatelegraph.com.

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