Burrell Ives Humphreys (May 18, 1927 – September 19, 2024) was an American judge on the New Jersey Superior Court and county prosecutor.
[3] A Democrat, Humphreys became the Passaic County Prosecutor in June 1975, appointed by New Jersey Governor Brendan Byrne.
[4] In March 1976 the New Jersey Supreme Court overturned the 1967 conviction of two black men, Rubin "Hurricane" Carter and John Artis, for a triple murder of three white victims in a bar in Paterson.
[7] Humphreys focused on the "racial revenge theory" surrounding suspect Eddie Rawls, a black man whose stepfather had been murdered at a different bar earlier the same night.
[7] Sarokin criticized the racial revenge theory, writing that "the jury was permitted to draw inferences of guilt based solely upon the race of (the defendants).
"[12] As a prosecutor Humphreys was philosophically opposed to the death penalty, although he said he could be in favor if it was proved to have a significant reduction in the crime rate.