‘Texas 7’ inmate Randy Halprin’s new trial likely more than a year away

DALLAS - It could be a year or more before the new trial of "Texas 7" inmate Randy Halprin gets underway. 

That’s because Dallas County District Attorney John Creuzot has turned to an appeals court to challenge one of Judge Lela Mays’ rulings.

Randy Halprin Retrial

What's new:

In March, Creuzot filed a motion seeking to remove one of Halprin’s court-appointed attorneys from the case.

Defense attorney Heath Harris previously worked for the DA’s office and may have been involved in some of Halprin’s post-conviction appeals.

Judge Mays ruled Harris should stay on the case.

Now, the district attorney is appealing the judge’s ruling to the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, asking it to stop the proceedings while considering whether the judge’s ruling was wrong.

Dig deeper:

Dallas defense attorney Anthony Farmer is not part of the case but has been following the legal developments so he can share insight.

"It’s not unusual at all for a party to appeal a case. A lot of times as lawyers we feel the judge gets it wrong on the law and the judge errors. And we take it to the higher court to see if they agree and we hope they do. And so, it’s not uncommon for any party, DA, a side to feel that a judge has gotten the law wrong," he said.

The appeals court could either hear oral arguments or review court transcripts before making a decision. That could take a few weeks or maybe even a few months.

If the appeals court agrees with the DA that Harris should be removed, that would mean another reset with another court-appointed attorney who would have to be brought up to speed.

Death Penalty Case

What we know:

Halprin’s case is the first death penalty case for Creuzot since taking office in 2019.

And because it will be tried as a death penalty case, that too could add to the delay. Both sides and the judge will, of course, want everything to be right before a jury is seated to decide Halprin’s fate – again.

Farmer expects it will be at least a year or more before any trial takes place.

"The fact that it’s a death penalty case alone means it’s going to take a long time for both sides to prepare. The fact that it’s an older case with older witnesses, older testimony, older transcripts, etc., it’s going to take likely months if not longer for this case to be ready for trial," he said. 

There are hundreds of boxes filled with evidence documents dating back to when the case began. All that paperwork is in the process of being digitized.

"It’s going to take a while to get this one right," Farmer said.

Who are Randy Halprin and the ‘Texas 7’?

The backstory:

Halprin, who is now 47, was one of seven inmates who became known as the "Texas 7."

In December of 2000, they escaped from a South Texas prison and then committed several robberies, including one at an Irving sporting goods store where they shot and killed 29-year-old Irving police officer Aubrey Hawkins.

Halprin is one of only two members of the "Texas 7" still alive.

Larry Harper killed himself before the group was arrested. Four others – Joseph Garcia, Donald Newbury, Michael Rodriguez, and George Rivas – have been executed. Patrick Murphy is still awaiting execution.

Appeals court orders new trial 

What we know:

The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals halted Halprin’s execution in 2019. 

This past November, the court overturned the conviction and ordered that Halprin be given a new trial.

New evidence supported the argument that Judge Vickers Cunningham, who presided over Halprin's original trial, held a strong bias against the defendant because he is Jewish.

"The uncontradicted evidence supports a finding that Cunningham formed an opinion about Halprin that derived from an extrajudicial factor — Cunningham’s poisonous antisemitism," the appeals court wrote in its ruling. 

Cunningham is now retired from the bench and works as an attorney in a private practice.

He has not commented on Halprin’s case.

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