Guilty verdict in escapee trial - 'Texas Seven' cop killer Randy Halprin faces death penalty

The Dallas Morning News ^ | June 9, 2003 | From Staff Reports

[MeekOneGOP]

Guilty verdict in escapee trial

06/09/2003

From Staff Reports

Dallas County jurors deliberated for about two hours Monday before finding Randy Halprin guilty of capital murder in the death of an Irving police officer on Christmas Eve 2000.

The punishment phase of the trial now begins. Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty.

Randy Halprin

Mr. Halprin, 25, was one of seven men who escaped from the Connally Unit prison near San Antonio in December 2000.

The group ended up in Irving, where a robbery at an Oshman's SuperSports USA store turned deadly.

Officer Aubrey Hawkins was responding to a suspicious activity call when he came upon the men. Witnesses for the prosecution testified that the 29-year-old officer was shot at least 11 times, and that bullets recovered from the scene have been linked to at least five of the escapees' weapons.

Aubrey Hawkins

Defense attorneys have suggested that Mr. Halprin played only a minor role in the robbery. Mr. Halprin, who took the stand in his defense last week, acknowledged under cross examination that he carried a loaded weapon into the store.

"I felt like I didn't have a choice," he said, adding that he never fired the weapon.

Four other escapees have been convicted and sentenced to death for their role in Officer Hawkins' death. Another is scheduled to go to trial later this year. The seventh escapee committed suicide.

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Online at: http://www.dallasnews.com/latestnews/stories/060903dnmethalprin.a03a3174.html

[MeekOneGOP]

Prior article posted:

Trial starts for prison escapee - Randy Halprin:
Texas Seven member faces death penalty

[Catspaw]

Five down, one to go.

[MeekOneGOP]

Yep! What say you regarding the penalty ?? I say he gets the needle !!

[Catspaw]

Oh, the prosecutors are going to go six for six on the death penalty. There's absolutely no doubt in my mind.

[MeekOneGOP]

Sends a good message to the bad guys ! Kill a policeman in Texas, you're a goner !!

[LibKill]

It's time to flush these feces out of our world.

It will be a better, cleaner world without them.

[Catspaw]

I remember when Officer Aubrey Hawkins was murdered by these animals on Christmas Eve, 2000, and the manhunt that followed and their capture in Colorado--they posed as preachers, if I remember correctly. My only disappointment was that one of the Texas Seven committed suicide, rather than going to trial, being convicted and given the death penalty. He cheated justice.

[MeekOneGOP]

Yep ! I don't recall them posing as preachers (not sayin' they didn't), but they did try to maintain a low profile.

Yet on the other hand, had they all gone the suicide route, it would have saved the taxpayers a lot of time, trouble and $$ and accomplished the same final end a lot quicker! :O)

[Catspaw]

You know, I debated whether one of them committing suicide was cheaper, but I also remember Aubry Hawkins' mom on TV after he was murdered and I know she wanted to look into the eyes of each of the men as they were condemned to death.

[MeekOneGOP]

Well that's true too. I wouldn't deny her of that.

[MeekOneGOP]

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/search?s=Jury+ponders+punishment+for+escapee+Halprin&q=quick&m=any&o=score&SX=3ee7a8bcb80c372bd6abd799ff83961bb8c2a660

[MeekOneGOP]

Today's proceedings:

Jury ponders punishment for escapee Halprin

06/11/2003

By ROBERT THARP / The Dallas Morning News

Prosecutors argued Wednesday that prison escapee Randy Halprin should die for his role in the Christmas Eve 2000 shooting death of an Irving police officer.

After seven days of testimony, defense attorneys and prosecutors spent two hours summing up the case against the 27-year-old former Arlington resident. This week, jurors convicted Mr. Halprin of capital murder and are now deliberating whether to sentence him to life in prison or the death by injection.

Mr. Halprin is the fifth member of the so-called ``Texas Seven'' prison escapees to stand trial for the death of Officer Aubrey Hawkins. The group got out of the Connally Unit prison near San Antonio in December 2000. They pulled off a string of holdups that ended with the robbery of the Oshman's SuperSports USA store in Irving.

Prosecutors Toby Shook and Tom D'Amore urged jurors to find in their deliberations that Mr. Halprin poses a continuing threat to society even if he remains locked up in solitary confinement for the rest of his life. The two also asked the panel of eight men and four women to find that Mr. Halpin either directly caused the officer's death by his involvement in the robbery or anticipated that it would happen.

``He needs to know that you can't break out of prison, come into our county with your outlaw friends and terrorize the country ... Police officers need to know, yes, they are backed up by our citizens,'' Mr. Shook said.

But defense attorneys Ed King and George Ashford reiterated that their client played a minor role in the prison breakout and robberies and said there was no evidence that Mr. Halprin fired any shots at the officer.

Officer Hawkins was shot 11 times after he surprised the group loading up their getaway car. Bullets from the crime scene have been linked to at least five different weapons, according to court testimony.

Mr. Ashford said prosecutors embellished details of Mr. Halprin's 1996 felony conviction for severely beating a toddler in Fort Worth in an effort to make him seem like a repeat offender. He said there was no evidence to support prosecutors' claims that Mr. Halprin abused the child more than once or burned the boy's tongue with a cigarette.

``They have the burden of proof,'' he said. ``And what they don't bring you speaks volumes.''

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Online at: http://www.dallasnews.com/latestnews/stories/061103dnmethalprinpunish.aaed19f2.html