HOUSTON (CBSDFW.COM/AP) – A Jewish death row inmate who was part of the “Texas 7” gang of escaped prisoners and faced execution in less than a week has won a reprieve after claiming the former judge at his trial was anti-Semitic and frequently used racial slurs.
The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals on Friday granted a stay of execution for Randy Halprin, who had been scheduled to receive a lethal injection on October 10.
Randy Halprin – Texas 7 gang member (TDCJ)
Halprin alleges in his appeal that ex-Dallas County Judge Vickers Cunningham referred to him with anti-Semitic language.
District judge Vickers Cunningham (courtesy: CBS 11 News)
Cunningham declined to comment about the case on Friday.
Halprin was among the inmates who escaped from a South Texas prison in 2000 and committed numerous robberies, including one in which a suburban Dallas police officer was fatally shot.
Cunningham faced allegations of bigotry in 2018 after telling CBS 11 he had established a living trust that rewarded his children for marrying straight, white and Christian.