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

Lawyers for Randy Halprin, a member of the "Texas Seven," are requesting a stay of his execution amid allegations that the judge who handled his case made racist and anti-Semitic comments during his time on the bench.

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.

Halprin's attorneys wrote in the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals filing that Cunningham could have biased the case in areas ranging from jury selection to evidence submission. Cunningham also prevented the jury from knowing that state officials labeled Halprin as the "weakest" of defendants, according to court documents, which his attorneys said might have caused jurors to consider alternative sentences to the death penalty. Cunningham has denied the allegations of bias in Halprin's case, and of being racist and anti-Semitic, according to various news reports.

The 69-page filing calls Cunningham a "racist and anti-Semitic bigot" in the first sentence and accuses him of believing Jews “needed to be shut down because they controlled all the money and all the power.” Halprin's lawyers also wrote that minorities who walked into his courtroom knew they were "going to go down" regardless of the evidence or what happened at the trial.

Halprin's federal public defender, Tivon Schardl, said they began looking into Cunningham following the Morning News' investigation last year. Prior to that, Schardl said they had never heard of any evidence of anti-Semitic bias in the case.

Dallas County District Attorney John Creuzot took the rare step of declining to oppose Halprin's filing, which the convicted killer's lawyers are using as further evidence in their accusation that Cunningham unfairly biased the trial. The Court of Criminal Appeals filing is part of a federal court appeal requesting a new trial for Halprin based on Cunningham's alleged comments.

Schardl said he was grateful to Creuzot but not necessarily surprised by the decision, considering the district attorney campaigned on eliminating bias in the criminal justice system in Dallas.

"That's not just a campaign promise. I think he really believes that," Schardl said. "It was remarkable compared to historical precedent, but I think given who John Creuzot is and what he stands for — it was a pleasant surprise but not super shocking."

Neither the district attorney nor Cunningham has responded to The Texas Tribune's requests for comment.

Halprin testified during the 2003 trial that he did not shoot Hawkins, but his capital murder charge did not require him to have done so in order to still receive the death penalty. The state only had to prove that he intended to kill Hawkins or anticipated the killing would occur. Halprin's lawyers attempted to challenge the use of this reasoning when it came to sentencing, but Cunningham denied it, according to court documents.

Cunningham also presided over the trials of three other members of "Texas Seven" before Halprin.

Source: Texas Tribune, Chase Karakostas, September 6, 2019

⚑ | Report an error, an omission, a typo; suggest a story or a new angle to an existing story; submit a piece, a comment; recommend a resource; contact the webmaster, contact us: deathpenaltynews@gmail.com.

Opposed to Capital Punishment? Help us keep this blog up and running! DONATE!

"One is absolutely sickened, not by the crimes that the wicked have committed,
but by the punishments that the good have inflicted." -- Oscar Wilde

Tennessee executes Harold Wayne Nichols

Thirty-seven years after confessing to a series of rapes and the murder of Karen Pulley, Nichols expressed remorse in final words Strapped to a gurney in the execution chamber at Riverbend Maximum Security Institution Thursday morning, Harold Wayne Nichols made a final statement. “To the people I’ve harmed, I’m sorry,” he said, according to prison officials and media witnesses. “To my family, know that I love you. I know where I’m going to. I’m ready to go home.”

China | Former Chinese senior banker Bai Tianhui executed for taking US$155 million in bribes

Bai is the second senior figure from Huarong to be put to death for corruption following the execution of Lai Xiaomin in 2021 China has executed a former senior banker who was found guilty of taking more than 1.1 billion yuan (US$155 million) in bribes. Bai Tianhui, the former general manager of the asset management firm China Huarong International Holdings, was executed on Tuesday after the Supreme People’s Court approved the sentence, state broadcaster CCTV reported.

Burkina Faso to bring back death penalty

Burkina Faso's military rulers will bring back the death penalty, which was abolished in 2018, the country's Council of Ministers announced on Thursday. "This draft penal code reinstates the death penalty for a number of offences, including high treason, acts of terrorism, acts of espionage, among others," stated the information service of the Burkinabe government. Burkina Faso last carried out an execution in 1988.

Who Gets Hanged in Singapore?

Singapore’s death penalty has been in the news again. Enshrined in law in 1975, a decade after the island split from Malaysia and became an independent state, the penalty can see people sentenced to hang for drug trafficking, murder or firearms offenses, among other crimes. Executions have often involved trafficking under the Misuse of Drugs Act, with offenses measured in grams. Those executed have included people from low-income backgrounds and foreign nationals who are sometimes not fluent in English, according to human rights advocates such as Amnesty International and the International Drug Policy Consortium.

Iran | Child Bride Saved from the Gallows After Blood Money Raised Through Donations, Charities

Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO); December 9, 2025: Goli Kouhkan, a 25-year-old undocumented Baluch child bride who was scheduled to be executed within weeks, has been saved from the gallows after the diya (blood money) was raised in time. According to the judiciary’s Mizan News Agency , the plaintiffs in the case of Goli Kouhkan, have agreed to forgo their right to execution as retribution. In a video, the victim’s parents are seen signing the relevant documents. Goli’s lawyer, Parand Gharahdaghi, confirmed in a social media post that the original 10 billion (approx. 100,000 euros) toman diya was reduced to 8 billion tomans (approx. 80,000 euros) and had been raised through donations and charities.

Oklahoma board recommends clemency for inmate set to be executed next week

A voting board in Oklahoma decided Wednesday to recommend clemency for Tremane Wood, a death row inmate who is scheduled to receive a lethal injection next week at the state penitentiary in McAlester. Wood, 46, faces execution for his conviction in the 2001 murder of Ronnie Wipf, a migrant farmworker, at an Oklahoma City hotel on New Year's Eve, court records show. The recommendation was decided in a 3-2 vote by the Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board, consisting of five members appointed by either the governor or the state's top judicial official, according to CBS News affiliate KWTV. Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Sitt will consider the recommendation as he weighs whether to grant or deny Wood's clemency request, which would mean sparing him from execution and reducing his sentence to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

Afghanistan's Taliban rulers carry out public execution in sports stadium

The man had been convicted of killing 13 members of a family, including children, and was executed by one of their relatives, according to police. Afghanistan's Taliban authorities carried out the public execution of a man on Tuesday convicted of killing 13 members of a family, including several children, earlier this year. Tens of thousands of people attended the execution at a sports stadium in the eastern city of Khost, which the Supreme Court said was the eleventh since the Taliban seized power in 2021 in the wake of the chaotic withdrawal of US and NATO forces.

Afghanistan | Two Sons Of Executed Man Also Face Death Penalty, Says Taliban

The Taliban governor’s spokesperson in Khost said on Tuesday that two sons of a man executed earlier that day have also been sentenced to death. Their executions, he said, have been postponed because the heir of the victims is not currently in Afghanistan. Mostaghfer Gurbaz, spokesperson for the Taliban governor in Khost, also released details of the charges against the man executed on Tuesday, identified as Mangal. He said Mangal was accused of killing members of a family.

Utah | Ralph Menzies dies on death row less than 3 months after his execution was called off

Judge was set to consider arguments in December about Menzies’ mental fitness Ralph Menzies, who spent more than 3 decades on Utah’s death row for the 1986 murder of Maurine Hunsaker, has died. Menzies, 67, died of “presumed natural causes at a local hospital” Wednesday afternoon, according to the Utah Department of Corrections. Matt Hunsaker, Maurine Hunsaker’s son, said Menzies’ death “was a complete surprise.” “First off, I’d say that I’m numb. And second off, I would say, grateful,” Hunsaker told Utah News Dispatch. “I’m grateful that my family does not have to endure this for the holidays.”

Iran carries out public hanging of "double-rapist"

Iran on Tuesday publicly executed a man after convicting him of raping two women in the northern province of Semnan. The execution was carried out in the town of Bastam after the Supreme Court upheld the verdict, the judiciary's official outlet Mizan Online reported. Mizan cited the head of the provincial judiciary, Mohammad Akbari, as saying the ruling had been 'confirmed and enforced after precise review by the Supreme Court'. The provincial authority said the man had 'deceived two women and committed rape by force and coercion', adding that he used 'intimidation and threats' to instil fear of reputational harm in the victims.

Death Penalty News

Search This Blog