Karmelo Anthony’s defense team won a significant ruling Wednesday when a senior judge removed the judge who handled Anthony’s June murder trial from overseeing the next stage of his case.
Anthony’s newly appointed attorneys had pushed to have Judge John Roach taken off the appeal, pointing to comments he made during a post-trial interview with Dallas-area station WFAA-TV.
In that interview, Roach described Anthony as appearing to be a “nice young man,” while also saying he believed the jury reached the correct verdict when it found Anthony guilty of murder.
“As long as I follow the law, I sleep well at night,” Roach said at the time.
Anthony’s lawyers argued those remarks crossed a line, accusing the judge of making “public comment about an impending proceeding.” They said the comments should have triggered an “automatic recusal” and went so far as to allege a breach of judicial ethics.
Senior Judge Sid Harle sided with the defense and granted the motion, while noting that removing a judge from a case requires meeting a “very high bar.” Harle added that, although he personally believed Roach could remain fair and impartial, “that’s not ‘the test.’”
The decision drew a strong objection from prosecutor Bill Wirskye, who forcefully defended Roach’s conduct.
“He didn’t do anything wrong,” Wirskye said. “I know Judge Roach. What is important to Judge Roach is being fair.”
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:
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.
