A judge is set to consider whether to grant a new trial for Karmelo Anthony, a Texas teenager convicted of murder earlier this summer. The consideration follows a legal victory for Anthony, which resulted in the recusal of the judge who presided over his initial trial.
Judge Michael Chitty will now consider the motion filed by Anthony's attorneys requesting a retrial in the stabbing death of 17-year-old Austin Metcalf. Anthony, now 19, was sentenced to 35 years in prison for the crime.
Anthony's attorneys had asked for state District Judge John Roach to be removed from the case, citing comments Roach made in a television interview after the trial. In the interview, Roach stated that the jury had "got it right" in delivering a guilty verdict. The defense argued that such statements prejudiced their client's case. During the recusal hearing, Anthony's legal team presented the TV interview as evidence.
In their motion for a new trial, Anthony's attorneys have argued that the June proceedings were compromised by strict courtroom rules and improper jury instructions. They also stated that Anthony's decision not to testify was influenced by a dispute with prosecutors over an agreement to focus the trial on the events leading up to the stabbing.
During the trial, jurors rejected Anthony's claims of self-defense. Witnesses testified that the confrontation occurred last year in the stadium bleachers after an escalating dispute over Anthony's refusal to leave a tent belonging to Metcalf's team. Prosecutors alleged that Anthony provoked the confrontation and was the aggressor. Witness accounts suggest Anthony reached into a bag and made a threat before Metcalf pushed him. Anthony then, according to witnesses, produced a knife and stabbed Metcalf in the chest.
The case gained national attention, partly due to social media posts that framed the killing in racial terms. Anthony is Black, and Metcalf was white. However, lawyers for both sides maintained to the jury that the incident was not racially motivated.
Roach, in his post-trial interview, also defended his courtroom rules and addressed the surge of online commentary surrounding the case. Both families reported being targets of harassment as national attention intensified.