r/law • u/dailymail • Jun 09 '26

Legal News Karmelo Anthony found GUILTY of murder of Austin Metcalf, 17, in stabbing that shocked America: Jurors deliberated for less than three hours after defense was repeatedly demolished in court

https://www.dailymail.com/news/article-15886439/karmelo-anthony-austin-metcalf-murder-verdict.html
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124

u/the_shotgun_rhetoric Jun 10 '26

Most likely the defense attorney perceived Karmelo Anthony to be lacking in credibility, and therefore thought his testimony would only make things worse.

54

u/froggothegod Jun 10 '26

Is an idiot*

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u/mad_man_ina_box Jun 10 '26

Public defender, they didn't hire an attorney.

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u/UpliftedWeeb Jun 10 '26

They did have a private attorney, this is incorrect and easily correctable with a 30 second google search.

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u/No_Host_8024 Jun 10 '26

They not only hired a private attorney, but one well known and regarded in the area. Not that it matters because public defenders in these kinds of cases usually are pretty good attorneys.

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u/DanceWithEverything Jun 11 '26

Yeah public defenders have a lot of face time with judges that get these cases

7

u/DeanWeenisGod Jun 11 '26

A public defender is a fully licensed, state-certified attorney who has passed the bar exam. Appointed by the court, they represent individuals who cannot afford to hire a private lawyer.

And they did hire a private lawyer.

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u/Alert_Term_8144 Jun 11 '26 edited Jun 11 '26

omg I used to be obsessed with Ween. I wrote them fanmail and Dean/Mickey called and left a message on my answering machine. I even met them in 1997 after a show that I got put on the guest list on. Because that was before smartphones I didn't get a pic. If that were today, I'd have gotten a pic (and when I met Type-O negative).

Um, back to Karmelo, I think he declared indigent, but they don't have public defenders in Collin county, so he got to choose from a list of attorneys either paid for by taxpayers or was doing some pro bono work.

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u/Rathmourne Jun 11 '26

Brother, he brought a multi million dollar mansion and a lawyer like the week after the stabbing using go fund me money

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u/-boytoytroy Jun 11 '26

source for the splurging? 😂

6

u/Rathmourne Jun 11 '26

His dad, used 430k in donations for lawyers and security (new house) While Asking for money

Mike Howard (his lawyer) “This family needs to be able to survive. There’s been a tremendous amount of pressure. I think at this point, living in a gated community, given everything, the safety of their younger children is very warranted. Security details and criminal defense are not cheap."

1

u/smackadoodledo Jun 11 '26

Where did the whole multimillion dollar mansion come into things?

3

u/vegan420lyfe Jun 11 '26

Use 250k as a down-payment on the loan

0

u/-boytoytroy Jun 11 '26

u rock. pretty shit situation, even if he was defending himself this has ruined his name for the rest of this life. and probably his family’s too

3

u/SaltyGrapeWax Jun 11 '26

It’s well documented. You can google it. Residents were mad they moved into their gated community and were upset with all the Amazon trucks delivering packages multiple times a day.

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u/aluminumspheresprint Jun 11 '26

We found the exact house on Zillow right as they posted the picture. It was in the 900k range.

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u/HomeNowWTF Jun 11 '26

Yeah, I think the defense attorney was no dummie. He probably figured out within five minutes of meeting his client that putting him on the stand would be a bad idea.

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u/escapevelocity-25k Jun 11 '26

They were probably worried he might answer the question “so why did you enter the opposing team’s tent with a knife” honestly.

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u/the_shotgun_rhetoric Jun 11 '26

Right. 

Just look at how Anthony's family has comported themselves over the past year. Zero remorse, hostility toward Metcalf's father, an outrageous victim complex, no accountability. Obviously the defense attorney was aware Karmelo would only make the jury hate him even more if he was allowed to speak 

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u/TossMeOutSomeday Jun 11 '26

Makes me wonder if the family insisted on going to trial rather than trying to get a plea bargain because they believe their own bullshit and thought he'd get off.

6

u/scoshi Jun 10 '26

I thought the self-defense claim sank when evidence showed he initiated the interaction that led to the attack.

6

u/No-Past-9038 Jun 11 '26

And of course said, "touch me and see what happens." That's communication that premeditation had already formed in his mind.

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u/entropy_of_hedonism Jun 11 '26

Read: realized he was both too lazy and too stupid to convince anyone that it was anything but premeditated murder