Defense attorneys for Karmelo Anthony appeared in a Collin County courtroom Thursday to argue that the 19-year-old should receive a new trial, and presented previously undisclosed evidence about the history of both Anthony and the student he was convicted of killing.
Anthony was sentenced in June to 35 years in prison for fatally stabbing 17-year-old Austin Metcalf at a Frisco track meet they both attended as students in April 2025. Judge John Roach, who presided over Anthony’s murder trial, was recused Wednesday from all post-trial proceedings.
The hearing got underway about 9:40 a.m. after Michael Chitty, the retired Kaufman County judge who is presiding, arrived. The judge allowed Anthony to be unshackled, KXAS-TV reported.
Defense attorney Russell Wilson’s opening statements centered on Roach’s decision to close the overflow courtroom during the majority of the trial and multiple off-the-record proceedings that occurred, Star-Telegram media partner WFAA-TV reported. He accused Roach of running a “shadow docket.”
Wilson also said prosecutors violated an agreement that limited evidence of what could be shared in court about the defendant’s and victim’s character and background, according to WFAA.
“They kept out information that could have been used,” Wilson said.
Prosecutor Bill Wirskye told the court that every decision Roach made during the trial was done with the permission of the attorneys. He also said off-the-record conversations are common in major trials in Texas, according to WFAA reporting.
According to Wirskye, the attorneys on both sides received multiple threats during the trial, and Roach acted in the way he did to protect Anthony.
New evidence includes previous allegations of racism, violence
New documents presented at the Thursday hearing illustrated a history of allegations of racist and violent behavior by Austin Metcalf and his twin brother, Hunter, among the character evidence that was not presented at the trial.
Witnesses have said that Anthony, a Black student from Centennial High School, stabbed Austin Metcalf, a white Memorial High student, after Metcalf tried to remove Anthony from the Memorial tent at the track meet. Race was not a focus of the arguments made to the jury, but the case has stirred racial tensions in the community, with Anthony’s supporters and lawyers saying he acted in self-defense. Anthony told Frisco police that Metcalf “put his hands on me.”
Karmelo Anthony is sketched sitting in court beside his attorney. Anthony, 19, was sentenced in June 2026 to 35 years in prison for stabbing 17-year-old Austin Metcalf in April 2025. Pat Lopez/WFAA
During his questioning of trial defense attorney Mike Howard on Thursday, Anthony’s current defense attorney Russell Wilson presented a motion full of allegations about the Metcalfs’ prior behavior. The allegations were not heard by the jury at the trial.
A juvenile offense report involving Austin and Hunter Metcalf refers to photos of graffiti that says “KKK,” “Kill all Black people,” “Heil Hitler” and a racial slur, WFAA reported. The twin brothers received 12 months of probation in connection with the graffiti incident, according to KXAS.
Several violent text messages between the Metcalf brothers and other students were also included in the document. In one exchange, Austin Metcalf tells another student to “kill that mf,” referring to a Hispanic student at a track meet. In another, Hunter Metcalf refers to jumping students from rival Independence High School.
All in all, the motion listed 53 different incidents of violence and racism by the Metcalf brothers, according to WFAA-TV.
Prior instances of violent behavior by Anthony were also discussed at Thursday’s hearing, according to KDFW-TV.
On the morning of the stabbing, Anthony’s girlfriend reported that he had been stalking her by driving past her house and not allowing her to end their relationship, KDFW reported. Anthony sent her a text saying, “im lowk on the verge.”
In a text message from 2024, Anthony told a girlfriend that he wanted to stab someone and lick the blood off of his blade.
A motion prepared by prosecutors that referenced prior bad acts by Anthony also included a photo of him holding a gun.
Austin Metcalf, a 17-year-old Frisco Memorial High School junior, died April 2, 2025, when he was stabbed by another student at a track meet. Family photo courtesy of GoFundMe
Howard and attorneys for the prosecution made a verbal agreement that these past instances would not be brought up in court at the time of the trial and that the case would focus on “what happened under the tent,” according to testimony at Thursday’s hearing The reason the agreement was never put in writing, Howard said, was because of the intense social media activity and public scrutiny around the case.
Prosecutors and the defense also wanted to ensure the jury pool was clean and the trial was fair, Howard said.
The agreement fell apart on the final day of trial when prosecutor Bill Wirskye argued that Karmelo Anthony’s testimony was not included in the deal to suppress information about prior bad acts by either party, according to KDFW-TV.
The conversation devolved into a shouting match in the judge’s chambers, Howard said, and ultimately he was only given 10 to 30 minutes to help Anthony decide whether to testify.
Anthony ultimately chose not to take the stand, which defense attorneys argue severely hampered his claim of self-defense in the case.
The hearing adjourned at around 5:40 p.m. Thursday and will resume Friday morning with testimony from Toby Shook, another of Anthony’s former defense attorneys.
Trial attorney testifies
Mike Howard, Anthony’s lead defense attorney during the trial, took the witness stand after lunch Thursday. He told the court that the lawyers had at least 12 off-the-record meetings with Roach, according to WFAA. Anthony was not present, he said. There were no pre-trial hearings or motions.
According to Howard, Roach had an “old-school” way of doing things. The attorneys would make their filings directly to him, instead of through the district clerk’s office, WFAA reported.
When Wilson asked whose idea the “shadow docket” was, Howard said both sides were worried about how the case had gone viral, and “we all wanted the temperature turned down,” according to WFAA reporting.
First witness
The defense’s first witness, former Collin County public information officer Derrick Jackson, was called about 11:15 a.m., WFAA reported. He handled press credentials and other logistics related to the media before the trial, but was fired before the trial began.
Jackson testified that Roach insisted on not having an overflow room, citing issues such as management of the space and security, according to WFAA. He said the defense wasn’t present in any of the meetings he had with Roach.
The witness said he was fired after providing media outlets with the trial schedule, which he believed was public information. The prosecution claimed the information violated the gag order that the parties to the case were under, according to WFAA reporting.
Jackson stated that Roach “really let me have it,” and told him he could spend six months in jail for violating the gag order, WFAA reported.
Wirskye said during the cross-examination that he didn’t believe Jackson intentionally did anything wrong. Jackson admitted he’d never worked in a threat environment before and said trying to manage the vitriol surrounding the case was “unlike anything we have ever experienced,” according to WFAA.
The hearing was on recess for lunch until 1:30 p.m. When it resumed, the defense was expected to introduce dozens of exhibits, KXAS reported.
New defense team
A new team of attorneys led by Wilson took over Anthony’s case after his conviction in June. On July 7, the legal team filed a motion for a new trial and requested that Roach be removed from the post-trial proceedings on the grounds of bias.
The new attorneys have argued that Roach’s decision to keep cameras out of the courtroom violated Anthony’s right to a fair trial. They’ve also said that prosecutors violated an agreement that limited evidence of what could be shared in court about the defendant’s and victim’s character and background.
“The jury was prevented from fully considering whether Karmelo acted in self-defense,” the defense team said in a news release.
The defense attorneys applauded visiting San Antonio Judge Sid Harle’s decision Wednesday to recuse Roach, and said they would make sure Anthony receives the due process he’s guaranteed under the Constitution.
“Nothing about today changes the fact that a young man lost his life, and the Metcalf family carries that loss every day,” the defense team said in a statement Wednesday. “What today does is give this case the impartial review the Constitution guarantees every defendant, no matter how much attention the case has drawn. We will be in court Thursday morning.”
This story was originally published August 20, 2026 at 7:01 AM.
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Harriet Ramos covers crime and other breaking news for the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.