HOUSTON – Famed attorney Richard “Racehorse” Haynes has died. He was 90.
Hanes died at 12:58 a.m. Friday with his family by his side, family spokesman Chris Tritico said in a news release.
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Tritico said Haynes had been in declining health for the last several years.
Haynes was a well-known criminal defense attorney, with a career spanning more than 50 years.
Haynes represented defendants in some of the biggest cases in history, including the State of Texas v. John Hill, the River Oaks surgeon accused of murdering his socialite wife, Joan Robinson-Hill.
After the first trial ended in a hung jury, Hill was killed in the doorway of his River Oaks mansion.
The case was the subject of a book and a movie, “Blood and Money.”
According to Tritico, Cullen Davis was the first billionaire in the U.S. indicted for murder in the Texas v. Cullen Davis case.
Haynes successfully represented Davis in the murder trial after Davis was accused of killing his ex-wife’s boyfriend and daughter. The first trial ended in a mistrial after the jury was deadlocked. Davis was acquitted in the second trial.
He was later indicted for solicitation of capital murder after he was accused of hiring a hitman to kill the judge presiding over his divorce.
Davis was acquitted again in his third trial.
In the case of the State of Texas v. Pam Fielder, Fielder was accused of killing her husband, who she said regularly abused her.
Tritico said Fielder shot her physician husband after he came home from work and before he could take her to a sadomasochism dungeon where he regularly abused her.
Feilder was charged with murder and convicted. The case was reversed, which set the battered woman defense as the law for the first time in Texas.
The defense is now embodied in the Texas Code of Criminal Procedure.
“Richard Haynes was my mentor, my friend and more importantly, responsible for my career,” Tritico said.
“There is no better lawyer in the United States today, and there never will be.”
“Richard was an inspiration and mentor to any criminal lawyer in Texas who ever drew a breath. Those of us who had the experience of working with him are professionally blessed. Every citizen of Texas owes him a tip of the hat to his legacy and his professionalism,” attorney Dan Cogdell said.
Richard is survived by his daughter, Ricki Haynes, and his sons Blake Haynes and Slade Haynes.
Haynes was preceded in death by his wife, Naomi, to whom he was married for more than 60 years, and his daughter, Tracey.
He had numerous grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
Funeral arrangements for Haynes will be announced later.
