A 12-person jury was seated Wednesday in the Karmelo Anthony murder trial after a Collin County judge rejected the defense’s Batson challenge over the removal of three Black women from the panel. The jury includes both men and women, but no Black jurors were selected.
Anthony is charged with first-degree murder in the 2025 stabbing death of 17-year-old Austin Metcalf at a Frisco track meet, a case that has already drawn close attention because of the claim that the two teens argued over seating in the stands before Metcalf was stabbed in the chest with a pocketknife. Judge John Roach first excused the opening 150 jurors after meeting with attorneys Wednesday afternoon, then moved into strikes that would eventually produce the trial jury.
The defense objected to three potential jurors the state had struck in the second round, arguing that the women were Black, all were educators and were similarly situated to a white female juror prosecutors did not remove. Prosecutors said the strikes were not race-based and pointed to the fact that each of the three women listed an education-related occupation. Roach sided with the state and allowed the strikes to stand.
Batson challenges are rarely raised and even more rarely succeed, said Anna Offit, who described the burden as a heavy one for the party making the challenge. A lawyer raising one must prove purposeful discrimination, she said, and appellate review often turns on whether the same questions, and the same number of follow-up questions, were asked of prospective jurors across race lines.
The ruling leaves Anthony with a full jury and no Black jurors in the box, a makeup that could matter later if the defense seeks to revive the issue on appeal. For now, the case moves forward with the panel selected and the disputed strike decisions already on the record.
