Texas Trial Court Recommends New Trial for Jewish Death-Row Prisoner Tried Before Racist and Anti-Semitic Judge

A Texas judge has rec­om­mend­ed that the con­vic­tion and death sen­tence of death-row pris­on­er Randy Halprin (pic­tured), who is Jewish, be over­turned because of the reli­gious big­otry of the judge pre­sid­ing over his trial. 

In a state­ment of find­ings released on October 11, 2021, Dallas Criminal District Court Judge Lela Mays wrote that ​“Judge Vickers Cunningham pos­sessed anti-Semitic prej­u­dice against Halprin which vio­lat­ed Halprin’s con­sti­tu­tion­al right to a tri­al in a fair tri­bunal, equal pro­tec­tion, and free exer­cise of reli­gion.” The ​“only rem­e­dy” for Halprin, Mays said, is ​“a new fair trial.”

Halprin was sen­tenced to death for the mur­der of a police offi­cer who respond­ed to a rob­bery com­mit­ted by a group of inmates, lat­er dubbed the ​“Texas 7,” who had escaped from a Texas prison in 2000. Halprin, who was not involved in the shoot­ing itself, was con­vict­ed under the Texas ​“law of par­ties,” which makes accom­plices equal­ly liable for the acts of every­one involved in the underlying felony. 

The tri­al was presided over by Dallas County Judge Vickers Cunningham, who referred to Halprin as a ​“f***ing Jew” and a ​“G*dd**n k**e” and called Halprin’s Latino co-defen­dants ​“wetb***s.” A 2018 Dallas Morning News report said the for­mer judge had made racist, homo­pho­bic, and anti-Semitic remarks, and had even set up a trust for his chil­dren, pro­vid­ed they mar­ried a white Christian of the oppo­site sex. According to court doc­u­ments, Halprin’s lawyers spoke with an acquain­tance of Cunningham who said Cunningham ​“took spe­cial pride in the death sen­tences [of the Texas 7] because they includ­ed Latinos and a Jew.” Cunningham referred to his broth­er, who was gay and whose part­ner was Black, as ​“N****r Bill.” He lat­er launched a cam­paign for Dallas District Attorney, so ​“that he could save Dallas from ​‘n****rs, we****ks, Jews, and dirty Catholics.’”

“In light of all the evi­dence, this court finds both that Judge Cunningham har­bored actu­al, sub­jec­tive bias against Halprin because Halprin is a Jew, and that Judge Cunningham’s anti-Semitic prej­u­dices cre­at­ed an objec­tive­ly intol­er­a­ble risk of bias,” wrote Mays. She also wrote that ​“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.”

Halprin came with­in a week of exe­cu­tion in October 2019, but the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals (TCCA) grant­ed him a stay based on Cunningham’s com­ments and direct­ed the Dallas County court to con­duct an evi­den­tiary hear­ing and rec­om­mend fur­ther action on Halprin’s claim that Cunningham’s big­otry denied him a fair tri­al before an impartial tribunal. 

Attorneys for the state of Texas did not dis­pute Cunningham’s anti-Semitic and racist views but said there was no evi­dence those views affect­ed the out­come of Halprin’s tri­al. The case now returns to the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, who must decide whether to accept or reject Mays’ recommendation. 

“Judge Mays undoubt­ed­ly made the right call,” said Tivon Shardl, one of Halprin’s lead attor­neys. ​“The facts were nev­er in dis­pute. Contrary to what the State said, the Constitution pro­tects Texans from reli­gious big­otry in the crim­i­nal jus­tice sys­tem. We’re con­fi­dent the Court of Criminal Appeals will reach the same con­clu­sion and order a new, fair tri­al for Randy Halprin.”