Karmelo Anthony Gets New Legal Team As Appeal Process Begins

A powerful team of appellate, civil rights, and criminal defense attorneys has joined the effort to represent Karmelo Anthony, who was recently sentenced to 35 years in prison following his murder conviction in the 2025 death of 17-year-old Austin Metcalf at a Frisco track meet. The legal team, working pro bono, says it will review the full trial record and pursue every available option for appeal.

“Our appellate team has been retained following the conviction to conduct a fresh, independent review of the trial record,” the group shared in a statement obtained by NewsOne. “We recognize the profound loss suffered by one young man’s family and the uncertainty facing another, and we extend our respect to everyone whose lives have been forever changed by these events. Our responsibility is to determine whether a legal error occurred and to ensure that every issue supported by the record is fully and vigorously presented on appeal.”

Karmelo Anthony’s appeal: A look at his powerful law team.

Leading the appeal are several prominent attorneys, including Russell Wilson of the Law Office of Russell Wilson II, Gary Bledsoe of the Bledsoe Law Firm PLLC, who also serves as president of the Texas NAACP, and Michael L. Ware of the Law Office of Michael Ware.

Wilson is a Dallas-based trial and appellate attorney who has been board-certified in criminal law since 2003 and has practiced in Texas since 1995. In 2011, he was appointed to lead the Dallas County District Attorney’s Conviction Integrity Unit, described at its creation as the first of its kind in the country, and has spent decades handling both state and federal cases.

Bledsoe, an Austin attorney, has led the Texas NAACP since 1991 and has also served on the NAACP National Board of Directors since 2003. Admitted to practice before the U.S. Supreme Court and the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, he has a long history in civil rights litigation, including efforts tied to increasing accountability measures such as police video and body cameras.

Ware, a board-certified criminal defense attorney since 1990, brings more than 40 years of trial and appellate experience. While with the Dallas County District Attorney’s Office, he helped establish what is widely recognized as the first conviction integrity unit in the United States. He is a two-time Percy Foreman Criminal Defense Lawyer of the Year and was inducted into the Texas Criminal Defense Lawyers’ Hall of Fame in 2025.

Additional members of Anthony’s legal team include Brooke Cluse of Ben Crump Law, Sean Daredia of the Daredia Law Firm, and Justin A. Moore of Stafford Moore PLLC.

His legal team may challenge the jury selection process, but Karmelo Anthony’s appeal could take awhile, expert says.

During an interview with the Dallas Observer published June 11, Niles Illich, a Dallas appellate lawyer specializing in criminal cases, said he believes Anthony’s legal team will argue issues related to jury selection and whether there was an “error” when legal experts for Anthony were denied a Batson Challenge. As previously reported, although more than 500 potential jurors were considered, the final 12-person jury did not include any Black jurors. During the selection process, prosecutors used peremptory strikes to remove the last three remaining Black prospective jurors despite Anthony’s attorneys calling for a “Batson Challenge.” In Anthony’s case, prosecutors argued that the three prospective jurors, who were Black women, were removed because they were educators of school-aged children, not because they were Black. Judge Angela Tucker accepted that explanation and denied the Batson challenge, and the trial moved forward with the jury that ultimately convicted Anthony. 

Illich said the process leading up to the appeals court’s final ruling should take “about 18 months,” and noted that timeline could be delayed by up to 45 days or longer if Anthony’s attorneys file a motion for a new trial.

Evidence from the Karmelo Anthony trial was released on Juneteenth.

As previously reported, Karmelo Anthony’s trial concluded on June 9 when a Collin County jury found the 19-year-old guilty of fatally stabbing Metcalf in 2025. He was sentenced to 35 years in prison after jurors rejected the defense’s argument that he acted under “sudden passion,” a legal claim that can reduce sentencing if someone acted in the heat of the moment.

On June 19, evidence from the case was released to the public by the Collin County judge who presided over the trial, according to CBS News. The materials included surveillance footage showing the moments immediately after the stabbing at the Frisco track meet, including Anthony running from the tent where the incident occurred. Another video shows Anthony being taken into custody and arrested by Frisco police. The evidence also included the knife used in the deadly stabbing, which was admitted during the trial. It’s unclear if this latest evidence will hurt the teen’s chances of an appeal.

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