The curious case of Karmelo Anthony

My day in court... again

A recent tragedy in my hometown has garnered national attention because of its’ sensational details. At a high school track meet, a 17 year-old senior (Karmelo Anthony) from one school stabbed and killed another 17 year-old senior (Austin Metcalf) from a different school. This happened at around 10 am in the stands of the football stadium and in front of the student body present. These details alone are just shocking and extremely sad. 😔 Unfortunately, constant media attention is turning Frisco into a race relations tinderbox because the victim was white and the accused happens to be black.

For more context about Frisco, Texas, here is a quick view of our population and demographics breakdown.

In fact, it is more common for you to see Asian-Indian restaurants and grocery stores driving around Frisco than anything else. What is more breathtaking to me is that several soccer fields have been converted into cricket fields because of the growing Indian population in our area. 🧐 I have never seen a culture import their own traditions so deeply and quickly than the Indian culture. This is not a negative, but a description of the culture that has influenced my town the most.

This does not mean there are no racial tensions in Frisco. It simply means that we live in a complex city that is not evenly divided into two races. Regardless if I believe this has anything to do with race, the media and families involved do. That was quite apparent to me today as I attended the bail reduction hearing for Karmelo Anthony.

Back in court - the emotional environment

The sheriff and court law enforcement officers instituted a new security check system to an otherwise simple bond reduction hearing. Over the last 7 days, the media and public have inundated the different levels of government - courts, police, district attorney’s office - with phone calls, emails and “hategrams” (as the Judge so eloquently put it today). Judge Angela Tucker stated in the her opening remarks that she has never seen anything like this in her time as a defense attorney, prosecuting attorney and now Collin County Judge of 13 years. This flurry of communication has surprised and spooked the courts, law enforcement and county officials probably for the first time in Collin County history. Anything with national attention brings pressure unlike anything anyone can describe.

As one protective layer, they put metal detectors in front of the courtroom in order to get into the courtroom. We already had to go through metal detectors to get into the building. 🤯

Another protective layer - they grouped the different parties and put physical distance between them before, during and after the courtroom. Here is a list of the order of the groups they let in from first to last -

1. Victim’s family (Metcalf’s) - seated on the far right (positioned behind the state attorneys)

2. Press verified with credentials - seated along the very back row

3. Accused family (Anthony’s) - seated on the far left (which was also behind the defendant)

4. Everyone else - whatever chairs were available

My chat with the NAACP

I sat next to a very nice woman who was a local representative for the NAACP. She told me that she was attending today to make sure someone was looking out for Karmelo’s civil rights. I understood exactly what she meant because I thought the bond amount was way too high. She asked me who I was representing by being there. I am now paranoid that I am becoming the annoying “Murder, She Wrote”/”Mrs. Marple” character who is a nosy neighbor trying to solve cases when no one is asking for her help?! 😬 I think I need to make business cards and pretend I am someone?? 🤔

I did answer that I was an interested citizen from the community. That sounds dumb and boring, but I am not good answering questions on my feet. Not sure why I can’t learn that this might be a common question the more I show up to court. Clearly, I am a slow learner. 🫣 Anyway… my discussion with her brought home the fact that there are many layers to this trial already.

Bond Reduction Hearing - Details about Karmelo

First of all, I was moved when I saw Karmelo enter the room. He was wearing a mustard yellow jumpsuit with chains around his waist and linked to the chains around his ankles just like Harrison Ford in “The Fugitive”. He looked sad and his family looked devastated. He sat in the chair staring forward almost in a catatonic state while his lawyer made the arguments for a bond reduction. My heart went out to him as well as the victim’s family. Two separate families are devastated and forever changed. That was hard to witness, and their emotions were palpable.

Procedures like bond hearings can seem trivial in light of these devastating life details. However, procedures are an important part of a civil society that allow for both justice and fairness. Bonds are part of the civil procedures that seem cold or impersonal, but play a vital role in the justice system.

Purpose of Bond/Bail

The purpose of bond/bail under Texas law is primarily about 2 things -

1. To ensure that Karmleo appears before the court to answer the criminal charges brought against him.

2. To reasonably ensure safety to the community, law enforcement and any victims involved.

If the bond amount is too oppressive, it can be ruled as unconstitutional under appeals. Therefore, the judge weighs several factors in determining what is a reasonable amount for the bond. This is where the defense attorney comes in. He is there to try and demonstrate to the judge that Karmelo’s factors make the current bond of $1 million dollars oppressive (unconstitutional). The defense attorney did this by putting Karmelo’s father (Andrew) on the stand to answer a series of questions that would cover these “factors” for the judge to weigh. That was heartbreaking to watch AND very enlightening to listen to his testimony.

The very nature of the questions asked revealed valuable information (to me) about Karmelo’s family and personal life. For this reason, I titled this newsletter - The curious case of Karmelo Anthony. His life details are paradoxical to the “crime” committed. His father gave the following testimony -

• They are from Baton Rouge, Louisiana

• Karmelo is the oldest of 4 children and lives with his mother and father

• 2021 - they moved to Texas for a better life and more economic opportunities

• 2022 - they relocated to Frisco, where the father is employed in the finance department at Stonebriar Chevrolet, while the mother is a stay-at-home mom.

• Karmelo’s dad earns about $72,000 a year, but has had to leave his job because of the stress of his family details

• Karmelo’s family needs to move for security reasons

• Karmelo has 2 jobs - one at Footlocker for 2 years (and his manager was there to support him in court today) and he picked up a second job at HEB

• Karmelo is an A/B student who was planning on graduating high school this year

• Karmelo was captain of the football team and captain of the track team

• Karmelo had no prior law enforcement records

• Karmelo did get into an altercation in February with another student at school, but it did not require any law enforcement

Factors to determine the amount of Bond

Before the Judge announced her decision, she took a good amount of time to explain the bond factors and everything that goes in to these type of decisions. It was clear that she was speaking to the press at this moment and she directed some stern words to “the public” because of the misunderstandings about court proceedings. It was at that moment that I knew the bond would significantly come down (as I thought it should) because of the amount of prep work she put into her statement.

The Judge finished by listing off the factors she was weighing while coming to this decision -

• Seriousness of crime (1st degree murder)

• Karmelo’s age (17)

• Flight risk (Karmelo does not have a passport)

• Karmelo’s prior criminal history (none)

• Karmelo’s ties to the community (extensive family)

• The safety of the Metcalf family

• The safety of the Anthony family

• The safety of the Frisco community

• The amount of money Karmelo’s family could afford (the Dad is not working and they do not have access to the defense fund at this moment)

After listening to Karmelo’s details, I am having a hard time believing Karmelo acted “intending to cause serious bodily injury that results in death” (1st degree murder charge). If I feel that way after one hearing, I am wondering if they will be able to find 12 jurors in this county who will all agree on a conviction?

Bond Reduced to $250,000

Weighing these factors, Judge Tucker believed the current bond amount would be deemed “oppressive”. Therefore, she set the new bond amount to $250,000 with the following conditions -

• House arrest except to visit lawyer with pre-approval by Judge Tucker

• Ankle monitor

• No social media accounts

• No social media contact by family to any of the victim’s family

• Karmelo has to call court bailiff every Friday to check-in

The Judge was very stern in delivering these conditions. I thought this was the right decision, and I realize there are no winners in this situation. The victim’s family looked devastated by this outcome. I can’t imagine how they feel, but I do think this procedure was fair.

What’s Next…

We await to see if criminal charges are filed against Karmelo Anthony. This happens when a grand jury of 12 regular people from the community who meet in secret to decide if there’s enough evidence to charge Karmelo with 1st degree murder. They listen to information and evidence presented by a prosecutor, and sometimes hear from witnesses. After discussing the case, they vote in private. If at least 9 out of 12 jurors agree there’s enough reason to believe a crime happened, they issue an indictment, which means Karmelo will go to trial. If not, the case is dropped and doesn’t go to court.

This case will go to court because as Justice Scalia once famously remarked - “a grand jury would indict a ham sandwich”. It is just not that hard to get an indictment from a grand jury, and it says nothing about the strength or weakness of the State’s case against Karmelo.

My hope is that the media attention dies down so the justice system can do its’ job. After today, it is my opinion that the Collin County government officials have shown that they can provide a fair process to both parties involved.

Sincerely,

Concerned Me