Defense attorneys for Karmelo Anthony successfully removed the trial judge from all appeal efforts going forward on Wednesday as they seek a retrial for their client.
In June, the 19-year-old black man was convicted of murder and sentenced to 35 years in prison for the fatal stabbing of Austin Metcalf, a 17-year-old white athlete, at a Texas high school track meet in April 2025. The case caught national attention last year due to the races of the suspect and victim.
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Judge John Roach, who presided over the trial, is now recused from the case. The decision was made by Judge Sid Harle, who oversaw a previous trial for the 2022 Uvalde school mass shooting.
A new judge in Anthony’s case will be appointed before Thursday’s court hearing, where the defense team will argue that the defendant should receive a new trial.
Presenting their case before Harle in court, Anthony’s lawyers pointed to Roach’s television interview after the guilty verdict as grounds for a retrial. The judge said he agreed with the jury’s guilty verdict in the interview.
During the interview, the trial judge defended his decision to excuse three prospective black jurors before the seven-day trial. The defense took issue with the final jury, which included no black people. Roach also said he hopes both sides felt the outcome of the trial was fair. State prosecutors argued the judge did nothing wrong in granting the interview two days after the trial.
The so-called “dream team” of defense attorneys, hired after the trial’s conclusion, insisted Roach would not be fair and impartial if he held the retrial hearing. A newly appointed judge will hear their arguments on Thursday.
Anthony was present in the courtroom on Wednesday. His parents and Metcalf’s parents were also there. Anthony’s supporters were ecstatic once they heard the news, chanting outside the Collin County Courthouse.
Frederick Douglass Haynes III, a Dallas pastor and Texas Democratic congressional candidate, told reporters he felt Roach “jumped the gun” by publicly agreeing with the jury’s guilty verdict, which raised questions about whether Anthony received a fair retrial.
If the defense gets its wish, Anthony will have another shot at defending himself in court. He did not testify during the initial trial.
KARMELO ANTHONY JURY RETURNS WITH GUILTY VERDICT IN AUSTIN METCALF MURDER
Last year, Anthony allegedly stabbed Metcalf with a pocketknife during a confrontation that started over a seating dispute in the stadium bleachers. The defense claimed he was acting in self-defense. The jury rejected that argument.
The latest development in the case was likely hard news for Metcalf’s parents to bear. Metcalf’s family has publicly feuded with Anthony’s parents, who have made their son’s murder case about racism.
