Carmelo Anthony trial: Austin Metcalf killer’s final move could make his self-defense claim difficult to win

Carmelo Anthony The defense team took a break on Monday, June 8, but the teenager did not appear in court. A veteran Texas attorney said that makes his self-defense claim harder to win.

Anthony, 19, decided not to testify, which could result in the jury not even being allowed to consider self-defense during deliberations because his attorney has never publicly acknowledged that he stabbed Anthony, 17 Austin Metcalfe to death. Jeremy Rosenthal, a defense attorney in Collin County, where the trial is taking place, explained that this admission is often a key component in self-defense trials in Texas.

“To get a self-defense charge, you bear what’s called a ‘burden of production.’ You have to prove through your own evidence that you have no objection to the conduct,” Rosenthal said, according to the New York Post. “

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“Those negotiations may be ongoing now,” Rosenthal said.

“Mr. Anthony’s failure to testify may narrow some of the paths to acquittal. The right to testify or not lies solely with the defendant. Closing arguments will tell us whether there is a larger strategy here and what it is,” he added.

Another attorney noted, however, that the argument for allowing the jury to downgrade the charge to manslaughter seemed stronger than the argument for acquitting him entirely of first-degree murder based on self-defense.

“I always thought it was an uphill battle for the defense because the knife was introduced into the conflict so quickly,” said Steve Bassett, a defense attorney who has worked in Texas for more than 30 years.

“I have never read any testimony that the conflict was particularly violent before the stabbing,” he added.

Meanwhile, prosecutors’ efforts to prove first-degree murder were scrapped.

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“It doesn’t sound like [Anthony] I went there that day with the intention of killing someone. This is aggressive, reckless behavior and really bad luck. ” Rosenthal said.

Body camera footage reportedly shows Anthony tearfully telling the arresting officer, “He put his hands on me” and asking “Is he OK?” However, Metcalf’s Teammates said Anthony Even before Metcalf made any contact, he reached into his backpack, clutched the knife and said, “I’ll know if you feel it.”

“When you say ‘touch me and find out,’ you might think it means ‘I’m going to kill you,'” Rosenthal explained.

Rosenthal said the verdict could come as early as Wednesday evening, June 10, thanks to 296th District Court Judge John Roach Jr. Roach reportedly extended court hours and even held proceedings on Saturday. He once criticized the prosecution team for arriving two minutes late at the break.

“Roach was very efficient. He would eat prison food with the inmates at lunch to see how it tasted. He would put on an ankle monitor to see what the pain level was,” Rosenthal said.

Roach reportedly once saw a defendant violating probation and arrested him himself. Rosenthal said he held the man down until police arrived.

“He had a servant’s heart, and that’s all you can ask for,” he added.

Anthony is accused of fatally stabbing Metcalf during a rain delay at a high school track meet. Before the stabbing at Frisco Memorial High School, Metcalf reportedly asked Anthony, who is black, to leave the event because he did not attend that school. Matt Kraft is white.

Anthony has pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder in the April 2, 2025, slaying of Metcalf. He claimed he stabbed 17-year-old Metcalf to death in self-defense.