Karmelo Anthony scores huge legal victory as judge who oversaw murder conviction gets booted from case

Convicted murderer Karmelo Anthony’s legal team scored a major victory Wednesday, successfully getting the judge who presided over his trial in June booted from his appeal.

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Anthony’s new lawyers argued Judge John Roach, who oversaw the initial trial, should be recused from presiding over the appeal because of an interview he gave to local station WFAA-TV after the trial.

Roach said Anthony seemed like a “nice young man” but said the jury made the right call convicted him of murder.

“As long as I follow the law, I sleep well at night,” he admitted.

Anthony’s lawyers seized on the moment, accusing Roach of giving “public comment about an impending proceeding,” which should have resulted in an “automatic recusal” – even claiming he violated judicial ethics.

Senior Judge Sid Harle granted the defense team’s motion, acknowledging that recusal is a “very high bar,” and stating that although he personally believes Roach was capable of presiding over the case impartially, “that’s not ‘the test.’”

Prosecutor Bill Wirskye vehemently protested the decision.

“He didn’t do anything wrong. I know Judge Roach. What is important to Judge Roach is being fair.”

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Wirskye then called out what he called a “concerted effort” from “social media and influencers” to disrupt the trial.

“Some of them are here today,” he said.

Anthony, 18, was found guilty of murdering Austin Metcalf, 17, after a spat over seating under a tent at a track and field meet in Frisco, Texas in April 2025.

The dispute began when Metcalf, who is white, told Anthony, who was an interloper in the team tent, to go somewhere else.

Here’s the latest on Karmelo Anthony’s murder conviction:

• Austin Metcalf’s dad blasts Karmelo Anthony’s family for skipping sentencing, missing their statements
• Austin Metcalf’s dad slams ‘moral decay of society’ as killer Karmelo Anthony mounts fresh freedom bid
• Moment Karmelo Anthony stabs Austin Metcalf and flees revealed in new surveillance footage
• Karmelo Anthony murmurs ‘I’m not alleged, I did it,’ cries during arrest for Austin Metcalf’s murder: bodycam

Anthony, who is black, then took out a knife and plunged it into Metcalf’s chest, killing him. He was sentenced to 35 years in prison.

What seemed like an open and shut case of murder has become a national flashpoint of racial tensions, with Anthony’s family arguing there was a racial component to the incident and even hiring high-profile civil rights attorney Ben Crump.

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