A State District judge recommends a new trial for Randy Halprin, a member of the Texas Seven. The death row inmate is Jewish and his attorneys argued Halprin didn't get a fair trail because judge Vickers Cunningham was alleged to be anti-Semitic.
Halprin was convicted in for the murder of Irving police Officer Aubrey Hawkins on Christmas Eve 2000.
Dallas appellate attorney Chad Ruback says it was the Court of Criminal Appeals that sent the case to judge Lela judge Mays, so he thinks they'll give the retrial the green light. "I would say there's a relatively high chance that Mr. Halprin will be getting a new trial. I don't believe the Court of Criminal Appeals would have sent the case to Judge Mays if they weren't already very receptive to granting a new trial."
He says the Texas justice system generally demands that there be no appearance of impropriety from the judge, "even if everything would have been the same with a judge who did not have any smirches on his record."
He says judge Lela Mays found there was more than the appearance of impropriety with judge Cunningham.
The members of the Texas Seven escaped from a South Texas prison in December of 2000.
Four of them have been executed. One committed suicide before he could be captured.
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