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A Texas judge denied Karmelo Anthony a new trial on Saturday, after his attorneys argued that courtroom restrictions, hearings held without Anthony present and the handling of an unwritten agreement between his former lawyers and prosecutors violated his rights.
Retired District Judge Michael Chitty denied Anthony’s request after reviewing the motion, court record, evidence and arguments, briefs and relevant case law, according to his order. The order did not detail his reasoning for the decision.
The decision leaves Anthony’s murder conviction and 35-year prison sentence in place. His challenge will continue on direct appeal.
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Chitty heard two days of testimony in McKinney, Texas, after Judge Sid Harle removed the judge who presided over Anthony’s murder trial, Judge John Roach, from the remaining trial-court proceedings earlier this week.
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Harle found that a reasonable outside observer could question whether Roach appeared impartial after he publicly said the jury “got it right” and defended several of his trial decisions.
At the center of the new-trial hearing was an oral agreement between Anthony’s original defense attorneys and prosecutors to keep potentially damaging character evidence involving both sides from reaching the jury.
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Former lead defense attorney Mike Howard testified that he understood the agreement to allow Anthony to testify if he stayed focused on the confrontation under the tent at a Frisco track meet.
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On the final day of trial, prosecutors told the defense that the agreement would not apply if Anthony took the stand and that the defense had opened the door to character evidence. Howard said the dispute led to a heated break in the proceedings and made Anthony unwilling to testify.
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Under cross-examination, Howard acknowledged the lawyers never expressly agreed on whether a testifying defendant was covered by the arrangement. He also said he could not say whether prosecutors acted in bad faith.
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Former defense attorney Toby Shook gave similar testimony Friday, saying the original defense team understood the agreement to include Anthony’s testimony about the confrontation. The position prosecutors took caught Shook off guard because the defense had always expected Anthony to take the stand in support of his self-defense claim.
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The defense also introduced a training presentation that lead prosecutor Bill Wirske had used in continuing legal education courses on self-defense. One slide advised defense lawyers that the client “(probably) needs to testify.”
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During a break, the defense updated Anthony and explained that Roach said he could not enforce the unwritten agreement, Shook testified. That left Anthony unsure whether testifying would allow prosecutors to introduce character evidence the agreement was meant to keep out.
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Wirske disputed that the agreement was broken. He said the lawyers never discussed the details of what it would allow if Anthony testified and that prosecutors remained willing to honor it. The state feared testimony from Anthony or his mother could inadvertently open the door to character evidence, Wirske said.
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Chitty also considered claims that courtroom-access restrictions violated Anthony’s Sixth Amendment right to a public trial and that jury instructions limited jurors’ ability to consider self-defense.
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Anthony, 19, was convicted in June of stabbing and killing 17-year-old Austin Metcalf during an altercation at a Frisco track meet. A Collin County jury sentenced Anthony to 35 years in prison.
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