re: Trial set to begin in murder of Austin Metcalf by Karmelo Anthony; Verdict is GUILTY

Closing statement was not backed up by evidence presented at trial.

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5" knife.

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Blade was 3.5”

Doesn’t change anything about it being murder and not self defense.

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Blade was 3.5”

Doesn’t change anything about it being murder and not self defense.

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Completely agree.

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The purported snippets from Anthony's lawyer's closing were pretty much all focused on self-defense.

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And it’s going to take the jury about the amount of time it takes to read the Provocation statute to toss any claims of self defense in the trash.. say it with me “touch me and find out” “touch me and find out” He is 10000 percent fricked thanks to his own words.

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Can they return a 2nd degree murder charge or was this tried as 1st? Or does that even matter in Texas for a Murder 2

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It was tried as murder as a first degree felony not Capital Murder.

Capital murder in Texas is the murder with death penalty possible or life with or without parole based on the age of the defendant at the time of the offense.

Murder verdict would be for murder as a first degree felony, and then it can be argued during the punishment phase that it was sudden passion from adequate cause to move it to murder as a second degree felony.

They have added manslaughter as a possible verdict which recklessly causing someone’s death wasn’t touched on in evidence submitted by either side. Anthony’s intention to use deadly force wasn’t in question. I have not read about the closings to know if manslaughter was even mentioned by either side, but that may give some jurors a way out of voting guilty for murder. It may be required or is standard to offer fallbacks, but I think including manslaughter is a mistake.

It’s obviously murder with self-defense the only decision to be made.

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Sec. 19.02. MURDER.

(a) In this section:
(1) "Adequate cause" means cause that would commonly produce a degree of anger, rage, resentment, or terror in a person of ordinary temper, sufficient to render the mind incapable of cool reflection.
(2) "Sudden passion" means passion directly caused by and arising out of provocation by the individual killed or another acting with the person killed which passion arises at the time of the offense and is not solely the result of former provocation.

(b) A person commits an offense if the person:
(1) intentionally or knowingly causes the death of an individual;
(2) intends to cause serious bodily injury and commits an act clearly dangerous to human life that causes the death of an individual;
(3) commits or attempts to commit a felony, other than manslaughter, and in the course of and in furtherance of the commission or attempt, or in immediate flight from the commission or attempt, the person commits or attempts to commit an act clearly dangerous to human life that causes the death of an individual; or
(4) knowingly manufactures or delivers a controlled substance included in Penalty Group 1-B under Section 481.1022, Health and Safety Code, in violation of Section 481.1123, Health and Safety Code, and an individual dies as a result of injecting, ingesting, inhaling, or introducing into the individual's body any amount of the controlled substance manufactured or delivered by the actor, regardless of whether the controlled substance was used by itself or with another substance, including a drug, adulterant, or dilutant.

(c) Except as provided by Subsection (d), an offense under this section is a felony of the first degree.
(d) At the punishment stage of a trial, the defendant may raise the issue as to whether he caused the death under the immediate influence of sudden passion arising from an adequate cause. If the defendant proves the issue in the affirmative by a preponderance of the evidence, the offense is a felony of the second degree.
(e) It is a defense to prosecution under Subsection (b)(4) that the actor's conduct in manufacturing or delivering the controlled substance was authorized under Chapter 481, Health and Safety Code, or other state or federal law.

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While we wait for deliberations, here's an opinion piece from an SMU law professor saying the "legitimacy of the jury is in doubt"

LINK

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But lawyers’ words are not evidence. And to the jurors tasked with assessing evidence, race may be a relevant consideration— one that shapes how people understand their experiences and interpret the motivations of others. In this particular trial, defense counsel has argued that in a “split second of fear and chaos,” Anthony acted to defend himself. The jury’s assessment of Anthony’s potential self-defense claim will turn not only on his subjective perception, but on the objective reasonableness of his actions.

Of course, the “reasonable person” is a legal fiction — a figure reimagined in each trial by the laypeople of the jury. Because this figure reflects the idiosyncrasies and biases (including those pertaining to race) of the jury, it matters who is empaneled. The reasonable person is not the same or even similar for every juror. In the Anthony trial, the situation is particularly stark: a jury without a single Black juror will determine what constitutes an objective standard for reasonableness — one that should apply to a Black teenager — based on their personal experiences and beliefs.

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In the Anthony trial, the situation is particularly stark: a jury without a single Black juror will determine what constitutes an objective standard for reasonableness — one that should apply to a Black teenager — based on their personal experiences and beliefs.

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Surprised it took this long for a line like this to appear ever since jury selection ended last week

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the Anthony trial, the situation is particularly stark: a jury without a single Black juror will determine what constitutes an objective standard for reasonableness — one that should apply to a Black teenager — based on their personal experiences and beliefs.

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Okay but it’s an objective standard

Black people can’t be objective is what he’s saying, it’s what some of the potentials admitted in the case

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race may be a relevant consideration— one that shapes how people understand their experiences and interpret the motivations of others.

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Right. He was so terrified of the whites, that he went into another teams tent provoking them. But then he got scared because whites are constantly jumping black kids and lynching them so he had no choice but to stab them in self defense.

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an SMU law professor

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My sincere wish is that white women like this get to enjoy the fruits of their insane ideology in this lifetime.