Texas 7 escapee granted hearing to determine whether judge was antisemitic

A member of the “Texas 7″ prison escapees could get a new trial after the state’s highest criminal court hears more evidence of his claim that the judge in his case held antisemitic views.

Randy Halprin, who is Jewish, argues that he didn’t receive a fair trial because former state District Judge Vickers Cunningham was prejudiced against him.

In October, state District Judge Lela Mays recommended Halprin be given a new trial, but the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals ruled Wednesday that it needs to hear more evidence before it makes its final decision.

“In this case, we find that a live hearing is necessary,” the court said.

The court is requiring that the hearing be held within 60 days.

Halprin, 44, is one of seven inmates who escaped from the John B. Connally Unit near Kenedy in December 2000. The escapees fatally shot Irving police Officer Aubrey Hawkins during a robbery that Christmas Eve.

Halprin was convicted and sentenced to die in 2003 for his role in the murder but has denied he shot Hawkins. He was scheduled to be executed in 2019.

Halprin’s attorneys did not immediately return a request for comment. In a June 2019 court filing, his attorneys alleged that Cunningham frequently used derogatory language when talking about minorities, including using the N-word, saying “the [expletive] Jews” and using other slurs.

Cunningham declined Thursday evening to comment on the court’s decision.

He has previously denied allegations that he is a bigot but confirmed to The Dallas Morning News in 2018 that he had a trust fund for his children with a clause that rewarded them for marrying white individuals of the opposite sex.

In her recommendation to grant Halprin a new trial, Mays said Cunningham “harbored actual, subjective bias against Halprin” because he is Jewish. She said his bias affected multiple facets of the criminal process, including jury selection and what evidence was allowed during trial.

“Judge Cunningham’s bias towards Halprin not only harmed him, but it undermined the public’s confidence that criminal justice has been — and will be — dispensed impartially,” Mays wrote.

The Tarrant County district attorney’s office, which has been handling the Halprin case since Dallas County District Attorney John Creuzot recused his office from it, did not immediately return a request for comment.

At the time of his prison escape, Halprin was serving a 30-year sentence for injury to a child after severely beating a 16-month-old he was babysitting.

Halprin is one of two remaining members of the Texas 7. Four have been executed by the state, and one member died by suicide to avoid capture. The remaining member, Patrick Henry Murphy Jr., remains incarcerated on death row. He was granted a stay of execution in 2019.