Curtis Vance Murder Trial Timeline

The trial lasted 7 ½ days and took the jury about 2 ½ hours to find Vance guilty of capital murder, rape, residential burglary and theft of property.

Vance's capital murder trial began on Monday, Nov. 2 with jury selection. The questions centered on how much media coverage the potential jurors had watched and read about the case.

Of the 125 prospective jurors called, only one woman said she had never heard of Pressly and her brutal death. The next day, she said she had recalled that her son had received a text message about her attack and that Pressly interviewed her son once.

Other questions included if they could vote for the death penalty and how they would react to DNA evidence being challenged. Eight jurors were selected Monday.

Jury selection resumed Tuesday and it took seven hours before attorneys could agree on a single juror. By the end of the day, three more jurors were chosen, bringing the total to 11.

Wednesday, one juror dropped out after saying after thinking about it overnight, he did not feel like he could vote for the death penalty. However, the jury was seated, along with two alternates.

After opening statements, the state called their first witnesses. Pressly's mother, Patti Cannady, gave emotional testimony about finding her only child beaten, bloody, and unrecognizable. She said her daughter was moaning and struggling to breathe.

Thursday was the first day of full testimony. Little Rock police Detective J.C. White testified about the four statements Vance gave. His story changed with each statement and he blamed two others in one of them.

Kristen Edwards also took the stand Thursday. Police say Vance raped her in April of 2008. Police say they collected his DNA from her rape kit.

Friday, testimony about DNA evidence collected at Pressly's home. State Crime Lab examiners talked about the one strand of hair that met the accuracy threshold in DNA testing to scientifically prove it was Vance's. While there were several hairs, only one still had the root and could be sent off for DNA testing.

Court wrapped up at about 3 p.m. after Judge Chris Piazza told jurors that they had taken in a lot of information over the week.

Court resumed Monday, Nov. 9, with more testimony about the four statements Vance gave police. He gave one written statement, two audio and one videotaped.

White picked up where he left off and talked about the discrepancies in Vance's statements. In cross-examination the defense said that police led Vance to incriminate himself when his story didn't match up with the evidence. However, police said they stopped him when he would start lying.

The prosecution rested Tuesday after a medical examiner testified that Pressly died that Pressly died from blunt force trauma to the head and went over the autopsy results in graphic detail. This was also the first time jurors saw post-mortem pictures of Pressly.

The defense started calling their witnesses early Tuesday afternoon. They recalled some of the state's witnesses and questioned them about the collection of evidence and testing. They also said police misled Vance and that he didn't know he was being videotaped, and thought it was only an audio recording. Police countered that Arkansas is a single party state, meaning that only one party has to be aware of the recording.

The jury was excused for the day while attorneys discussed evidence that was ruled inadmissible in court and entered it into the record in case of an appeal. The defense decided to rest first thing Wednesday morning.

The jury got the case after closing arguments and jury instructions Wednesday at 12:45 p.m. They reached a guilty verdict for Curtis Vance at 3:10 p.m. The sentencing phase of the trial began at 3:45.

The state called all of their witnesses, including Pressly's mother, Patti Cannady, who burst into tears, showing pictures of her only child. Two jurors and several reporters and people in court also began crying as the mother told of her horrible grief. She also painted a picture of a beautiful, humble woman, who touched so many lives.

Vance's aunt and a DHS supervisor testified about Vance's difficult childhood and life of abuse. Court recessed for the day at 6 p.m. and Vance's mother is expected to testify Thursday.

Vance faces the death penalty and testimony is expected to wrap up Thursday. The jury will then deliberate about his punishment and if they will recommend the death penalty. Ultimately, it's up to Judge Chris Piazza whether or not he accepts their recommendation.