Karmelo Anthony allegedly was "spoiling for a fight" the day he fatally stabbed Austin Metcalf at a Frisco high school track meet. And Metcalf had a history of getting into fights and had once sprayed graffiti with "vile, racist stuff."
Those were among the assertions made by Bill Wirskye, the lead prosecutor in the case, at a hearing Thursday. But none of that came to light during the trial in June.
'Under the tent'
The defense and prosecution, Wirskye said, agreed to focus on what happened the day of the track meet under the Memorial High School tent and not bring up prior behavior or character.
Anthony's new attorney appellate attorney, Russell Wilson, argues in the motion for a new trial his right to a public trial was violated by the lack of access to the courtroom and an off-the-record agreement between the attorneys on both sides of the case.
The off-the-record agreement, Wilson argued, coerced Anthony to waive his right to testify and denied him a complete defense, violating his constitutional rights.
"I don't know that I've seen a murder case with this much off the record stuff," he told the judge on Thursday.
Anthony was sentenced to 35 years in prison in June for the killing of 17-year-old Metcalf at the track meet. Anthony was also 17 at the time. Wirskye and Wilson presented their arguments to visiting judge Michael Chitty from Kaufman County in the hearing on Thursday for the defense's motion for a new trial. Mike Howard, Anthony's trial lawyer, also testified.
Anthony's arrest, trial and murder conviction has drawn national attention over issues of race. Anthony is Black and Metcalf was white. Many posts on social media have racist undertones.
Wirskye revealed more information that was kept out of the trial during testimony on Thursday.
Anthony's girlfriend, he said, told an assistant principal at their high school she was scared of him and that he wouldn't take no for an answer — less than two hours before he fatally stabbed Metcalf.
Text messages on Anthony's phone also revealed a "documented pattern" of an obsession with guns, knives and fighting, Wirskye said. Metcalf also had a history of getting into fights and had sprayed graffiti with "vile, racist stuff," he said.
Mike Howard, Anthony's trial lawyer, said Thursday said that there was an offense report naming Metcalf and two others related to the graffiti that was obtained during discovery.
The graffiti they were accused of painting included "KKK," "Kill all Black people," the N-word. "Heil Hitler" and an upside down cross.
Austin and his twin brother were sentenced to 12 months probation in Denton County, Howard said. Videos and text messages on Austin's phone, he said, painted a "pervasive picture of a racist outlook" — including using the N-word with a hard 'r' — up, until the day before the attack.
Howard also testified that Austin was taken into custody for an assault in May 2018, when he was ten years old, after shoving another student during a game of capture the flag at school.
Howard said the agreement about keeping some information about Anthony and Metcalf out of the trial wasn't in writing because there were concerns about it being leaked and impacting the trial by poisoning the jury.
Wirskye said it was also done to protect Anthony, who had received numerous death threats.
"We were all worried one of these racists were going to come into town and take his life," he said.
Anthony didn't testify on his own behalf at the trial. Howard said Anthony chose to not take the stand after a heated argument between Howard and Wirskye over the agreement.
Wirskye said the agreement didn't cover a testifying defendant and that the defense opened the door for the prosecution to bring up Anthony's character during cross examination during opening statements when they mentioned he played chess.
Howard testified he was surprised Wirskye didn't consider that Anthony would testify on his own behalf, something he said is common in cases when defendants are arguing self defense.
"I was absolutely shocked that could be their stance given the plain meaning of what 'under the tent' means," Howard said.
Wirskye and Howard negotiated a way for Anthony to testify while still upholding their prior deal. But Howard said Anthony opted to not testify over concerns about Wirskye's cross examination.
Anthony's prior bad acts, Wirskye said, weren't brought up during the punishment phase, keeping the agreement in place.
"If I hadn't honored the deal, punishment would've looked quite a bit different," he said.
What's next
Michael Chitty, the retired Kaufman County judge overseeing the hearing on the motion for a new trial, has until Monday to make his ruling. An order for a new trial has to be signed within 75 days of the judgement under Texas law.
Judge John Roach Jr., who oversaw the original trial, was recused by another outside judge on Wednesday. Roach did an interview with Channel 8 shortly after the verdict. The defense argued Roach violated judicial conduct rules. Sid Harle, a judge from Bexar County, ruled that the interview didn't pass the test of a neutral third party's view of his impartiality.
The hearing for the motion for a new trial is scheduled to continue on Friday.
This is a developing story and may be updated with more information.
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