A Texas death row inmate is expected to get a new trial over anti-Semitic bias harbored against him by the judge who presided over his case, according to a court ruling.
Randy Halprin, a “Texas Seven” prison gang member, was convicted and sentenced to death for the murder of Irving police officer Aubrey Hawkins on Dec. 24, 2000. His lawyers have long argued that Judge Vickers Cunningham, who presided over his trial, was biased against him because Halprin is Jewish.
Late Monday, Judge Lela Mays of the 283rd Criminal District Court in Dallas County concluded that Halprin was denied his rights to exercise his religion, due process, and equal protection of the law. Mays recommended that the Court of Criminal Appeals vacate the conviction and death sentence ordered against Halprin….