Obit watch: April 28, 2017.

When I was young, there were giants in the earth.

One of them, Richard “Racehorse” Haynes, died this morning.

His characteristic nickname dated back to his days as a running back on the football team at then-Reagan High School in Houston. He never ran straight down the field, but zigzagged in a way his coach described as running like a racehorse. Haynes embraced the nickname. He had business cards made with a horse’s head on it, Tritico said.

He was one of the greatest criminal defense lawyers ever. He represented John Hill in his first and only murder trial. (And the Chron is wrong: the case ended in a mistrial, not a hung jury.)

Later, Haynes represented Cullen Davis, the first billionaire indicted for murder in the U.S., and Pam Fielder, who was accused of killing her abusive husband. Haynes’ defense on the Fielder case is now embodied in the Texas Code of Criminal Procedure, giving women the right to defend themselves against abusers, said Tritico.

Tribute from Murry Newman.

If you didn’t know who he was when you saw him, you would never guess that you were in the presence of a Marine who fought at Iwo Jima, or Texas’ most famous trial lawyer.

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