NewzMcKINNEY, Texas (AP) — The attorney for a Texas teenager convicted of fatally stabbing a track athlete during a high school meet told a judge Thursday that Karmelo Anthony deserves a new trial because of errors that limited access to the proceedings.Anthony’s attorney told a newly appointed judge that prosecutors also did not follow through with an off-the-record agreement. Defense attorney Russell Wilson said the case’s original judge allowed a “shadow docket” that kept information out of the trial.“Everything was done off the record, at an astonishing clip,” said Wilson, who didn't represent Anthony at the criminal trial.Anthony already won a legal victory on Wednesday when the judge who presided over his trial was removed from the case. Judge Michael Chitty was then assigned to consider the motion from Anthony's attorneys asking for a retrial in the killing of Austin Metcalf.Anthony, now 19, was sentenced to 35 years in prison in the case.Prosecutor Bill Wirskye argued Thursday that Anthony had received a fair trial and said that his attorneys had agreed to everything that was done during the trial.Anthony's attorneys had asked for state District Judge John Roach to be removed in part because of a TV interview in which Roach said jurors “got it right” when they delivered a guilty verdict.In seeking a new trial, Anthony’s attorneys have argued that the June proceedings were marred by strict courtroom rules and improper jury instructions.
They have also said Anthony’s decision to not testify came after a dispute with prosecutors over an agreement to focus the trial on the events leading up to the stabbing.Jurors in the trial had rejected Anthony’s claims he acted in self-defense during a confrontation with Metcalf in the stadium bleachers last year. Students who took the stand described a heated exchange over Anthony’s refusal on a rainy spring day to leave a tent that belonged to Metcalf’s team.The case attracted national attention in part because of a flood of social media posts that amplified the killing in racial terms. Anthony is Black; Metcalf was white.
Lawyers on both sides, however, told jurors the tragedy had nothing to do with race.During the recusal hearing Wednesday, Anthony's legal team focused on comments Roach made to a Dallas TV station after the trial had ended. In the interview, which was played as the hearing began, Roach was asked if t… Karmelo Anthony’s attorney told a newly appointed judge that the case’s original judge allowed a “shadow docket” that kept information out of the trial against Anthony.
“Everything was done off the record, at an astonishing clip,” said defense attorney Russell Wilson. Anthony already won a legal victory on Wednesday when the judge who presided over his trial was removed from the case. Anthony, now 19, was sentenced to 35 years in prison in the case.
Anthony’s attorneys had asked for state District Judge John Roach to be removed in part because of a TV interview in which Roach said jurors “got it right” when they delivered a guilty verdict. In seeking a new trial, Anthony’s attorneys have argued that the June proceedings were marred by strict courtroom rules and improper jury instructions. Jurors in the trial had rejected Anthony’s claims he acted in self-defense during a confrontation with Metcalf in the stadium bleachers last year.
The case attracted national attention in part because of a flood of social media posts that amplified the killing in racial terms. During the recusal hearing Wednesday, Anthony’s legal team focused on comments Roach made to a Dallas TV station after the trial had ended. As national attention on the killing intensif…
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