Karmelo Anthony will not get a new trial. Kaufman County District Judge Michael Chitty denied the motion Saturday, and the case now moves to the Fifth Court of Appeals in Dallas.
Chitty’s order was short. He wrote that after reviewing the motion, the record, the evidence and argument, the briefs, and the relevant case law, the court determined the motion should be denied. Had he granted it, the murder conviction would have been suspended and the case would have started over.
Anthony, now 19, was convicted of murder in June by a Collin County jury that deliberated three hours, and was sentenced on June 9 to 35 years for fatally stabbing 17-year-old Austin Metcalf at a Frisco high school track meet in April 2025. Both were 17 at the time. His attorneys argued self-defense. Prosecutors called the killing unjustified and plain and simple murder.
The retrial motion ran 63 pages and made several arguments. The central one involved what both sides referred to as a gentleman’s agreement, an informal understanding between the trial attorneys, never entered into the court record, that neither side would bring up certain details about either teenager’s character or past in front of the jury.
Anthony’s appellate team argued that prosecutors backed out of that agreement at the eleventh hour, which derailed the defense strategy. The specific harm they pointed to was that Anthony never took the stand. His new lawyers said he was coerced into waiving his right to testify, because the defense believed his testimony would help the self-defense claim while prosecutors argued that putting him up there would open the door to everything the agreement had kept out. One appellate lawyer argued he might have faced a lesser charge if he had testified. The team said the situation denied him a complete defense.
They also went after the trial judge. Collin County Judge John Roach was accused of holding undocumented conferences, holding pretrial hearings without Anthony present, and imposing courtroom restrictions that limited public access. Roach was recused from further proceedings on Wednesday, August 19, and Chitty was brought in to handle the motion.
The most talked about piece of evidence at the hearing was an interview Roach gave after the trial ended, which was played as Wednesday’s session began. Asked whether the jury got it right, Roach said yes, they did, and added that whatever they say, they got it right.
The two-day hearing put attorneys from both the state and the original defense team on the stand, and it surfaced material that had never been public. That included allegations that Metcalf had engaged in racist and aggressive behavior and allegations that Anthony had stalked a former girlfriend and had an obsession with violence. None of it was ever presented to the jury, none of it was tested at trial, and it exists only as claims raised in a post-conviction proceeding. Testimony also covered a heated internal argument over whether Anthony should testify.
The Collin County District Attorney’s office has said it acted ethically throughout the trial.
Chitty was operating on a deadline. Under Texas law, an order granting a new trial must be signed within 75 days of the judgment, and if the judge does not sign one by then, the motion is automatically denied. He had until Monday.
What comes next is slow. The appeal goes to the Fifth Court of Appeals in Dallas, where Anthony’s team can raise the same arguments or bring new ones. Dallas criminal appellate attorney Brett Ordiway, who is not involved in the case, told The Dallas Morning News that the appellate court likely will not even have the required filings from both sides until early 2027, and described it as a long road ahead.
Anthony’s appellate lawyers did not respond to requests for comment Saturday afternoon.
