Karmelo Anthony granted hearing to request new trial after conviction for Austin Metcalf's murder

Karmelo Anthony is set to appear in court next month for two post-conviction hearings as his legal team attempts to overturn his murder conviction in the fatal stabbing of Austin Metcalf.

The first hearing is scheduled for August 19, when Anthony’s attorneys will argue that State District Judge John Roach Jr. should be removed from the appeals process. The defense alleges that Roach demonstrated bias by making comments about the case after the trial concluded.

Anthony’s attorneys say that Roach "expressed personal opinions about the propriety and correctness of the jury's verdict, the fairness of the trial and the correctness of the judge's own rulings during the trial." A reporter asked Roach if the jury got Anthony’s conviction correct, to which he responded, "Yeah, they did” and continued discussing the outcome of the case.

A second hearing will then take place the following day, when Anthony’s legal team is expected to argue for a new trial, according to NBC-DFW.

Anthony was convicted last month of first-degree murder and sentenced to 35 years in prison for the April 2025 killing of the 17-year-old during a high school track meet in Frisco, Texas. Witnesses testified that Anthony stabbed Metcalf in the chest during a seating dispute. Last month, a judge ordered the release of security camera footage and police body camera video that had been presented as evidence during the trial.

A team of civil rights attorneys announced in June they would represent Anthony during the appeals process. The case has drawn national attention, with some activists characterizing the case as having racial implications because of the races of Anthony and Metcalf.

In their motion for a new trial, Anthony’s attorneys claimed that several errors occurred during the proceedings, citing how portions of the trial were closed to the public, that prosecutors failed to honor an off-the-record agreement, and they claimed that jury instructions made it difficult for jurors to fully consider Anthony’s claim of self-defense. During the trial, people on the side of Karmelo had claimed it was unfair that there were no black jurors in the court, even though there were multiple minority jurors.