A new court filing is providing new details on why Karmelo Anthony did not testify during his murder trial, with his lead attorney alleging the defense changed its entire trial strategy after prosecutors backed away from what had been described as a pretrial agreement.
Anthony was sentenced to 35 years in prison for the 2025 fatal stabbing of 17-year-old Austin Metcalf at a Frisco, Texas, track meet. He was convicted of murder and will be eligible for parole after serving half of his sentence.
The affidavit, filed by defense attorney Mike Howard, is included in the defense’s motion for a new trial.
Howard’s affidavit says prosecutors and the defense reached what he described as a “gentlemen’s agreement” before trial to limit what jurors would hear about Anthony and the Metcalf twins beyond the April 2, 2025, stabbing. According to Howard, that meant jurors would not hear evidence about Anthony’s cellphone contents or school disciplinary records, while the defense would not introduce evidence it says it had gathered about Austin and Hunter Metcalf, including allegations involving violence, bullying and racist graffiti.
Howard wrote that the defense relied heavily on that understanding when developing its trial strategy. He said attorneys chose not to pursue certain lines of questioning, limited witness testimony and decided against calling expert witnesses because they believed the agreement would remain in place throughout the trial.
The affidavit also says the defense abandoned plans to introduce testimony and other evidence involving allegations about Austin and Hunter Metcalf’s reputations for violence, bullying and racism. Howard wrote that the defense also intended to question witnesses about school disciplinary records and a prior arrest involving alleged racist graffiti, but chose not to pursue that evidence because of the agreement. Those allegations are contained in the defense filing and are not findings by the court.
Howard wrote that the dispute arose after the prosecution rested its case. According to the affidavit, prosecutors argued the agreement would not apply if Anthony testified and maintained the defense had already “opened the door” to otherwise restricted evidence by mentioning during opening statements that Anthony played chess.
The affidavit says Judge John Roach Jr. disagreed that the chess reference violated the agreement, but told attorneys he did not believe he had a mechanism to enforce an agreement between the parties if a dispute arose.
Howard wrote that the defense was given about 10 minutes to discuss Anthony’s Fifth Amendment rights and whether he should testify.
“Ultimately, Mr. Anthony chose not to testify,” Howard wrote. “This 180-degree change in the defense strategy was the direct consequence of the breach of the agreement.”
According to the affidavit, the defense believed calling Anthony to testify could have exposed him to evidence about his character, reputation and alleged prior bad acts. Howard argues that concern led the defense to advise Anthony not to take the witness stand.
The filing also alleges the disagreement affected other aspects of the case, including witness examinations and sentencing strategy.
The affidavit is one of several arguments the defense has raised in asking the court to grant Anthony a new trial. Prosecutors had not responded in court to the specific allegations contained in Howard’s affidavit at the time of the filing.
Howard said the agreement was reached during pretrial discussions. The alleged agreement does not appear in the public court record.
In a statement to NBC 5 last week, Collin County District Attorney Greg Willis’ office disputed the defense’s claims.
“The defendant’s new lawyers have filed a motion containing several inaccurate characterizations of the trial proceedings,” First Assistant District Attorney Bill Wirskye said in the statement. “I and the entire prosecution team conducted this trial ethically and in full compliance with the Court’s rulings and any agreements with defense counsel. We look forward to addressing these claims thoroughly in our written response, which will be filed with the Court in the coming weeks.”
The statement added, “The jury heard extensive evidence over the course of the trial and returned a unanimous verdict. We remain confident in that verdict and the fairness of the proceedings.”
Anthony is serving his sentence at the Wallace Pack Unit in Navasota while his post-trial motions remain pending.