Hearing on Karmelo Anthony's bid for new trial in track meet stabbing concludes
Anthony was found guilty of murder in the fatal stabbing of Austin Metcalf.
After two days of testimony, a Texas judge will now weigh whether Karmelo Anthony will get a new trial, following the teen's conviction and sentence to 35 years in prison for fatally stabbing a fellow student at a high school track meet.
Attorneys for both the state and defense took the stand during the two-day hearing on his motion for a new trial, largely revisiting proceedings that happened behind closed doors regarding a "gentleman's agreement" between both sides to keep certain character evidence regarding Anthony and the victim, 17-year-old Austin Metcalf, out of the high-profile trial.
The hearing came after the Collin County judge who presided over the murder trial was removed from further proceedings in the case this week.
Prosecutors called the deadly stabbing "unjustified" and "plain and simple murder," while the defense argued that Anthony acted in self-defense when he stabbed Metcalf at a track meet in Frisco in April 2025.
After hearing four days of testimony, a Collin County jury found Anthony, 19, guilty of murder following three hours of deliberation on June 9. The same jury sentenced him to 35 years in prison after several more hours of deliberation. Anthony did not testify in his own defense in the trial.
Anthony's attorneys claimed in a motion seeking a new trial that the teen was "coerced" into waiving his right to testify, stemming from a purported dispute between defense attorneys and prosecutors about whether his testimony would be covered by the agreement limiting certain character evidence in the trial. Defense attorneys alleged this denied him a "complete defense."
The defense also alleged that Collin County Judge John Roach improperly instructed the jury and that his courtroom restrictions, which limited public access to the proceedings, denied Anthony a fair trial.
In a statement to ABC Dallas affiliate WFAA ahead of this week's hearings, Collin County First Assistant District Attorney Bill Wirskye said Anthony's new, post-trial attorneys "filed a motion containing several inaccurate characterizations of the trial proceedings."
"I and the entire prosecution team conducted this trial ethically and in full compliance with the Court's ruling and any agreements with defense counsel," Wirskye added.
In opening remarks Thursday in the hearing on the motion for a new trial, defense attorney Russell Wilson said Anthony decided not to testify because he believed the prosecution would not adhere to the unrecorded agreement not to question him about his past behavior, beyond what happened during the confrontation at the track meet, WFAA reported.
Wirskye, meanwhile, said he offered the agreement to "stay away from historical character and stick to the facts -- what happened under the tent" in order to "keep the peace" amid what he said was intense public vitriol over the case that led to threats against both sides, WFAA reported. He said the trial defense attorneys agreed to it, and that the "agreement was held."
Wirskye also pushed back on defense claims that Anthony had insufficient time to decide whether to testify and noted that prosecutors wanted him to take the stand, saying, "There's nothing better in my business than a testifying defendant," WFAA reported.
On the first day of the hearing Thursday, the defense called Derrick Jackson, the former Collin County public information officer, to discuss the courtroom protocols, and Mike Howard, one of Anthony's trial attorneys, who detailed some of the damaging character evidence regarding the defendant and victim that wasn't brought up in the trial.
Testimony in the hearing resumed Friday, with another defense attorney from the trial, Toby Shook, on the stand. When asked by Wirskye if there was a "miscommunication of both sides" regarding the agreement, Shook said there was a disagreement, WFAA reported. Shook said he felt the deal was off after the prosecution asked if the defense's mention about Anthony playing chess during opening statements in the trial "opened the door" to character evidence, according to WFAA.
After the defense rested, Wirskye testified about the case and defended the agreement, saying it was beneficial to both sides. He discussed security concerns, citing threats the Anthony and Metcalf families had received amid intense social media interest in the case, and testified that there was evidence that, if made public, could have threatened security, put Anthony at risk and influenced the jury pool, WFAA reported.
"I knew this case was going to be racially charged, divisive, and media would make it about race," he said, per WFAA. Anthony is Black; Metcalf was white. Prosecutors and the defense told jurors during the trial that the altercation had nothing to do with race.
Wirskye detailed more character evidence on Anthony that the jury never saw and maintained that the state held to the agreement. He also testified that he did not say that the defense "opened the door" in those words, WFAA reported.
The hearing concluded Friday evening. Retired Kaufman County District Judge Michael Chitty, the judge who presided over the proceedings, is expected to make a decision on whether to grant the new trial by Monday, WFAA reported.
Chitty was assigned to oversee the case after Judge Sid Harle granted the defense's motion to recuse Roach from any further matters in the Anthony case.
In his order issued Wednesday, Harle wrote that there were grounds for recusal "in that the evidence adduced at the hearing is such that the respondent judge's impartiality might reasonably be questioned."
In the defense motion seeking to recuse the trial judge from the post-trial proceedings, Anthony's attorneys questioned both Roach's impartiality in the case and his courtroom restrictions.
The motion cited what it called "problematic comments" Roach made during an interview following the verdict, in which it said the judge "endorsed the jury's guilty verdict" and defended his courtroom restrictions. It also pointed to a public letter Roach released following the trial, in which he stated that those who worked on the case "contributed to ensuring the process was conducted fairly."
Anthony's attorneys said Wednesday that they are "pleased" with Harle's decision to recuse Roach and "look forward to presenting the merits of Karmelo's motion for a new trial to a fair and independent judge."
Ahead of the trial, Roach imposed a gag order and barred any electronics, including cameras, from the courtroom during the proceedings due to the attention the case had garnered.
"Due to the significant public and media interest in this case, the Court finds that specific procedures are necessary to ensure the Defendant's right to a fair and impartial trial, the orderly administration of justice, the safety and security of all participants, and reasonable public access consistent with constitutional requirements," Roach wrote in a May order.
On Wednesday, Chitty ordered that the trial procedures will remain in effect at this time for future proceedings in the case.
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