A Texas judge granted Karmelo Anthony’s request to remove the trial judge who presided over his trial due to his post-trial comments.
A jury convicted Anthony, now 19, of the murder of Austin Metcalf at a track meet last year.
Anthony received a 35-year sentence, but his defense team immediately sought a new trial.
The team’s main complaint was that Judge John Roach was biased, but they also insisted the jury didn’t get clear instructions, that “the trial was effectively closed to the public,” and that “that prosecutors did not honor an off-the-record evidentiary agreement.”
Visiting Judge Sid Harle presided today. From Fox News:
Judge John Roach, who presided over Anthony’s June murder trial, was removed after Anthony’s attorneys played Roach’s post-trial WFAA interview in court and argued his remarks showed he had already prejudged the defense’s request for a new trial.
Harle said Wednesday he did not know Roach and described recusal as a high bar. He said he did not find that Roach violated judicial conduct rules and believed Roach could be fair.
But Harle said the question was not whether Roach could be fair. He found that a third party looking at Roach’s public comments could question the judge’s impartiality and granted the recusal motion.
In June, Roach told WFAA:
When asked whether the jury reached the correct verdict, Roach offered a direct response.
“Yes they did because they were picked based upon the law, they listened to the facts, it happened in this courtroom, and they got a verdict,” he said. WFAA ended its interview asking about the judge’s brief interactions with the now-convicted Karmelo Anthony.
“He seems like a nice young man who committed a crime and he understands today more than any day before the consequences of committing a crime like he did,” Roach said.
Roach said he believes Collin County’s handling of the trial should serve as a model for other jurisdictions dealing with high-profile cases.
Presiding Judge Ray Wheless will appoint a new judge on Thursday at a hearing over the motion for a new trial.
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