The case against Gabriel Hall: How Jeff Ross's comedy roast led to Texas inmate's death sentence
This article contains a recollection of crime and can be triggering to some, readers' discretion advised.
BRAZOS COUNTY, TEXAS: Footage from comedian Jeff Ross's 2015 comedy roast, ‘Jeff Ross Roasts Criminals: Live at Brazos County Jail,’ has been used in the death sentencing of Gabriel Paul Hall, who was convicted in 2015 for the murder of a retired Texas A&M University professor and disabled veteran Edwin Shaar and the stabbing of Shaar’s disabled wife Linda in their College Station home on October 20, 2011.
However, the convict's lawyers are arguing that it has been misused against him as evidence during his trial.
Hall’s defense attorney, McKenzie Edwards, claimed on Twitter that “a Texas jail volunteered to let Comedy Central comedian Jeff Ross roast its inmates. It encouraged inmates to participate. Texas then used the footage to sentence my client, Gabriel Hall, to death.”
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A Texas jail volunteered to let Comedy Central comedian Jeff Ross roast its inmates. It encouraged inmates to participate. Texas then used the footage to sentence my client, Gabriel Hall, to death.
— McKenzie Edwards (@mckeds) December 28, 2022
We’re asking #SCOTUS to review the constitutionality of Mr. Hall’s sentence. pic.twitter.com/JFNFskKHDw
The petition alleges that the nine-person film crew was allowed to interview Hall, who was being held at the Brazos County Detention Center in 2015, without first informing his attorneys, who had requested that sheriff's deputies seek their consent before allowing Hall to have contact with anyone. The taped footage contained "numerous vulgar provocations by Ross and damaging responses from Petitioner (Hall)."
Who is Gabriel Paul Hall?
According to Everybodywiki, Hall was born on February 18, 1993, and is a native of Cebu City, Philippines. He used to live in the Children’s Shelter of Cebu until the age of six, and was adopted by Wes Hall and Karen Kruse Hall at the age of 11. According to the page, Gabriel's biological father, who resides in the Philippines, is also a convicted murderer.
'A ‘f***ing scary dude’
During his confession to the police, Hall, who was 18 at the time of the crime, said that he enjoyed stabbing Shaar. In the 17-minute interview, Ross asks Hall, as quoted by DailyMail, "What are you in here for?" He quickly follows up by asking: "Hacking someone's computer?" Hall responds, "Something like that, yes." Another inmate not captured on camera says, ''Hacking' being the operative word." Hall then says, "Yeah. Yeah, used a machete on someone's screen, so." In another part, he speaks about the death penalty in Texas saying, "They'll hang you for the, they'll hang you for — well, they, they'll basically, screw you over, over the most, uh, petty s***, so." Ross later calls Hall "a scary dude." During the trial, prosecutors said that the video showed that Hall showed a "lack of remorse for having committed capital murder."