All-white jury selected in Karmelo Anthony stabbing trial
Defense challenges all-white jury as Karmelo Anthony faces murder trial in fatal stabbing case.
Black News 
So much for a jury of Karmelo Anthony’s peers.
Anthony, of course, is the 19-year-old Black youth who is standing trial for the fatal stabbing of a white teenager last year during a track meet in the Dallas area. The trial in Coll Country began this morning with Anthony standing before an all-white 12-member jury and six alternates.
Three potential Black jurors were struck down by the state because they are educators, despite objections from Anthony’s defense attorney, Mike Howard. Anthony’s side wanted Black jurors on the panel, but Judge John Roach, earlier this week, took the challenge under advisement and still allowed the prosecutors to strike potential jurors.
Howard immediately raised racial concerns over the makeup of the jury. The state and prosecutors, of course, are denying that race played any role in the jury selection.
There was immediate outrage from the Black community, led by civil rights group The Next Generation Action Network.
“We are deeply disturbed by what we witnessed during jury selection today,” declared Minister Dominique Alexander, President and CEO of the Next Generation Action Network. “The exclusion of all qualified Black jurors from serving on this case sends a troubling message to the community and raises questions that cannot be ignored. Every defendant deserves a fair trial, and every community deserves confidence that justice is being administered without bias or discrimination.”
The pool of potential jurors for the trial began with 600 people but was whittled down through the process known as voir dire, in which jurors are questioned, and their suitability for jury service is determined. That process began at the beginning of the week and ended the day before the trial started.
Even before the jury was selected, this was a closely watched proceeding because of the nature of the case involving a Black teenager and a white teenager. The two teens got into a physical disagreement after Austin Metcalf and his brother tried to make Anthony leave from under their school’s tent during a track meet. Anthony had reportedly sought shelter from the rain.
At some point during the altercation, Anthony stabbed Metcalf, who was a football star, causing the fatality. Anthony’s defense claims that he acted in self-defense and feared being attacked by the group. The prosecution believes that the stabbing was an unjustified first-degree murder.
Anthony is facing life in prison if convicted.
