The American Jewish Committee (AJC) welcomed on Tuesday a Texas court's decision to recommend a new trial for Randy Halprin, a Jewish prisoner on death row who has long claimed that the judge presiding over his trial was inherently biased against Jews and other minorities.
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The court's ruling was based on an exhaustive review of Halprin's trial records, Judge Vickers Cunningham's statements about Jews during that trial and over many years in Dallas County, and testimony from the judge's family and associates.
Cunningham sentenced Halprin to death in 2003 for his role as a member of the Texas 7 gang of prison escapees in the murder of a police officer in December 2000.
"Judge Vickers Cunningham possessed antisemitic prejudice against Halprin which violate Halprin's constitutional right to a trial in a fair tribunal," wrote Dallas Criminal District Court Judge Lela Mays in the decision. "Halprin's right to a fair proceeding has been violated. A new fair trial is the only remedy."
