A member of the sheriff department stands outside before a hearing on Karmelo Anthony’s motion for a new trial at the Collin County Courthouse in McKinney, Texas, Thursday, Aug. 20, 2026. Anthony was convicted of murder in June and sentenced to 35 years in prison for the fatal stabbing of Austin Metcalf at a high school track meet in Frisco.
Juan Figueroa/The Dallas Morning News
Supporters of Karmelo Anthony chant as they pose for photos outside the Collin County Courthouse after Judge John Roach Jr. was recused from the next phase of Anthony’s murder trial, Wednesday, Aug. 19, 2026, in McKinney.
Elías Valverde II/The Dallas Morning News
Retired Judge Michael Chitty is reviewing Karmelo Anthony’s motion for a new trial in a hearing at the Collin County courthouse in McKinney. The proceedings, which are open to the public, began Thursday and are continuing Friday.
Anthony was convicted of murder in June and sentenced to 35 years in prison for the fatal stabbing of Austin Metcalf at a high school track meet tent in Frisco. Anthony is Black; Metcalf was white.
Related: Could Frisco’s Karmelo Anthony get a new trial after his murder conviction? Here’s what to know
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Two motions — one for a recusal and another for a new trial — were filed, alongside a notice of appeal, shortly after sentencing.
The motion to retry the case spanned 63 pages and several allegations, including that prosecutors backed out of a “gentleman’s agreement” at the eleventh hour, derailing the defense team’s strategy. Anthony’s lead trial attorney said in an affidavit that the agreement barred both sides from mentioning details about Anthony and Metcalf’s character and past in front of the jury.
On cross-examination Friday, Collin County prosecutor Bill Wirskye and Anthony’s defense lawyer Toby Shook clashed repeatedly as Shook maintained that the state and defense had fundamentally different understandings of what unfolded in the hours before Anthony decided not to testify in the June trial.
“Do you ever recall me saying the deal was off?” Wirskye asked.
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“You said him testifying is not part of the agreement,” Shook replied. “That sounds to me like the deal is off.”
The exchange grew tense, with the lawyers talking over each other, prompting Chitty to intervene.
Wirskye asked Shook multiple times whether he would agree that the dispute was “an honest misunderstanding.” Shook evaded the assertion each time.
“Are you open to the fact that there was a miscommunication between the two sides?” Wirskye asked.
“I agree that you didn’t agree to my viewpoint,” Shook replied.
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The defense rested Friday morning after Shook, who was second-chair on Anthony’s defense team during trial, testified that the collapse of a pre-trial agreement between the prosecution and defense “detrimentally impacted” Anthony’s rights at trial.
Shook said he believed under the handshake deal, lawyers would litigate what happened under the tent the day of the stabbing without delving into Anthony or Metcalf’s pasts. In exchange, the defense believed Anthony could testify freely, without fear his history would be used against him.
The agreement was especially important, Shook told the court Friday, because Anthony’s testimony was central to the defense’s strategy. Self-defense, he explained, generally requires the jury to understand the defendant’s state of mind and perception of the threat.
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Related: How a quiet deal derailed Karmelo Anthony’s defense
Shook said the defense also expected Anthony’s testimony to give jurors a basis to consider a lesser charge and shorter sentence, as he felt the defense team was more likely to persuade jurors of manslaughter than self-defense.
But, Shook testified, his team’s ability to make either argument was “gutted” when he said the state reneged on the deal just before Anthony was set to take the stand.
Shook said Wirskye, the Collin County prosecutor, told him that the defense had “opened the door” to bringing up character by referring to Anthony’s involvement in chess club in opening statements — and that the state had never contemplated a testifying defendant when entering into the agreement. Shook and Wirskye are longtime friends and former law partners who had never faced each other in court until Anthony’s trial.
Shook said he was stunned because the chess reference had been made days earlier and Wirskye had not raised the issue then. A “heated” disagreement ensued, spilling from the courtroom into chambers, where Shook said the lawyers yelled at one another before Judge John Roach Jr. intervened.
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It not only destroyed confidence in the state honoring the agreement, Shook said, it instilled a resolute fear in Anthony.
“Bill’s just going to find a reason to open the door, no matter what I say,” Shook recalled Anthony saying, moments before he decided not to take the stand.
Austin Metcalf’s father, Jeff Metcalf, said in an interview on NewsNation’s CUOMO that he was “very disappointed” in his sons’ behavior after hearing allegations made in court Thursday that they engaged in racist and aggressive acts — some of which he said he learned of for the first time that day.
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“I’m just very disappointed in what I saw from my sons,” he said.
Related: Attorneys present new details about teens at center of Frisco track meet murder case
During the Thursday night interview, Metcalf said he had dealt with “some of the incidents” at home, but that some of the information came as a surprise. Anthony’s trial defense lawyer, Mike Howard, reviewed a document at the hearing Thursday that detailed allegations that Austin Metcalf and his twin brother engaged in racist graffiti, bullying, and violent outbursts.
Still, Jeff Metcalf said he does not believe the allegations change the facts of the case.
“Whatever happened four, five, six years ago had nothing to do with what happened that day,” Metcalf said, referring to the day of the fatal stabbing at the Frisco track meet tent.
The details about the alleged behavior were kept out of the June trial thanks to an informal “gentleman’s agreement” between the defense and prosecution — a deal Metcalf said he didn’t know existed until after the trial.
“I wasn’t privy — I didn’t know it went down,” he said, though he agreed that details about both teens’ characters were not relevant to the murder trial.
“It made sense,” he said, “because really what we’re looking at is what happened that day underneath the tent.”
Anthony’s legal team called Shook, one of the teen’s trial lawyers, to take the stand. Shook previously worked closely with Wirskye, the lead prosecutor on the case, who was also in court Friday.
Related: Who is Michael Chitty, the new judge in Karmelo Anthony’s case?
While Shook did not file an affidavit before the trial began like Mike Howard, Anthony’s trial attorney who testified Thursday, Howard’s statements indicate the lawyer was also privy to details about the informal “gentleman’s agreement” that is at the center of the hearing for a new trial.
Anthony was seated in the courtroom Friday, wearing a cream-colored suit, white button-down shirt and light yellow tie. Chitty granted a request to remove the restraints that secured Anthony’s wrists to a chain around his waist; he remained shackled at the ankles.
Only a handful of media and an even smaller number of supporters were outside the courthouse Friday morning. People set up lawn chairs and coolers in the shade as they waited for any potential decision.
The day before, people lined up outside the courthouse in purple shirts — Anthony’s favorite color — in hopes of being able to observe the hearing, but there were no such lines Friday.
After a full day of court Thursday, testimony is expected to continue Friday at 9 a.m. The day is set to begin with Shook, Anthony’s trial attorney, taking the stand. Chitty has until Monday to rule on whether Anthony should have a new trial; under Texas law, if he doesn’t, the motion will automatically be denied.
Staff writer Nicole Asbury contributed to this report.