Renowned Defense Lawyer Richard ‘Racehorse’ Haynes Dies

Criminal defense lawyer Richard “Racehorse” Haynes shocked himself with a cattle prod in front of a jury, purposefully kicked over spittoons in a dozen cases, and interrogated a client’s estranged wife for 13 days: anything to get an acquittal. Haynes, a Houston native and a graduate of what is now the University of Houston Law Center, represented 40 clients charged in capital cases and none got death sentences. He had a 12-year string of DUI cases in which all 163 clients were found not guilty. He also won the vast majority of what he called “Smith & Wesson divorces,” in which wives killed their abusive husbands in self-defense. Most notably, in 1976 Haynes defended T. Cullen Davis, then believed to be the wealthiest person ever tried for murder in the U.S., against accusations that Davis murdered his estranged wife’s boyfriend. Haynes was criticized for putting Davis’ estranged wife on the stand for 13 straight days, delving into sexual questions that had nothing to do with the trial. Davis was found not guilty. Haynes, who ABA Journal once called a “master of courtroom theatrics,” died shortly after his 90th birthday.