Lawyers say the Texas judge who presided over this Jewish death row inmate's trial later called him

[TexasTowelie]

Lawyers say the Texas judge who presided over this Jewish death row inmate's trial later called him anti-Semitic slurs

by Chase Karacostas, Texas Tribune


Lawyers for "Texas Seven" gang member Randy Halprin, who is Jewish, requested a stay of his execution set for Oct. 10 amid allegations that the judge who handled his case in 2003 made racist and anti-Semitic comments during his time on the bench.

In a filing Thursday, Halprin's lawyers accused former criminal court Judge Vickers Cunningham of describing Halprin using expletive-laden anti-Semitic comments after the trial ended. The Dallas Morning News also reported during Cunningham's 2018 Republican primary race for Dallas County commissioner that each of his children could only receive an inheritance by marrying a straight, white Christian. During the election, Cunningham acknowledged putting such stipulations in his will. He lost the race by 25 votes.

Halprin is on death row for capital murder in connection to a high-profile 2000 prison escape during which seven inmates went on the run. The group robbed a North Texas sporting goods store on Christmas Eve, and Irving police Officer Aubrey Hawkins was shot and killed as he responded to that crime. The escaped inmates fled to Colorado, where most of them were arrested in January 2001.

Four of the gang members have already been executed, and a fifth shot himself before police could arrest him. The seventh member is also scheduled to be executed this fall.

Read more: https://www.texastribune.org/2019/09/06/randy-halprin-says-texas-judge-used-anti-semitic-slurs-after-trial/

[TreasonousBastard]

1. I am absolutely opposed to the death penalty, but unless they show...

errors at trial, this is just a "Hail Mary" ploy. The judge may be a shithead, but that should have bearing no on the verdict if he didn't act the shithead during trial. If this guy's not the shooter, convict him guilty of some sort of accessory and give him life. If he is the shooter, give him life for that.

Which leads me to ask-- why are all six survivors under a death sentence? Did they all shoot the cop?

Texas really loves to kill criminals.

[TexasTowelie]

2. All seven of the escapees were convicted and sentenced to death.

This crime occurred about three months after I moved into Irving and the escapees were from a prison in Kenedy, Texas which was within about 50 miles from where I was raised. There was a statewide manhunt for the seven which gathered a lot of attention since it was near the holidays and there wasn't much else running in the news media.

The Wikipedia article provides a lot of background on the case:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Texas_Seven

[TreasonousBastard]

3. I got most of it from the first clip you posted, and the Wiki filled in a few things...

like how this was a really bad crew. Rap sheets galore.

Jailbreak, cop shot, stolen truckload of guns and ammo... Just the sort of thing to perk up a slow news day. I imagine the public outrage pegged the meter.

However, my curiosity is piqued by all 7 of them (ok, six living ones) being charged with capital murder. Usually the triggerman cuts a deal to finger the others, and they go down the line until one poor slob at the end take the whole blame. And gets the needle.

I've seen the getaway driver, who wasn't even on the premises when it went down, get death for everyone else. But, this wasn't last in line gets the chair because there's nothing left for him to offer and the crime was so horrific someone has to fry. They had everyone and nobody could make a deal.

So they just kill 'em all and let God sort it out?

When I was active in the Abolition movement, we used to see this crap go on all the time, and Texas was always #1.