00:00A team of elite civil rights attorneys banding together to get a controversial murder conviction
00:05overturned.
00:06All while teens mock the victim of the disgusting murder on social media.
00:10What's the status of Carmelo Anthony's murder conviction, and what are his lawyer's arguments
00:15for appeal?
00:16Here's what you need to know.
00:17In April 2025, 19-year-old Carmelo Anthony fatally stabbed 17-year-old Austin Metcalfe
00:24at a high school track meet in Frisco, Texas.
00:26Surveillance video from the tragic days showed the teen killer's desperate bid to flee
00:30the scene after he plunged a three-and-a-half-inch blade into Metcalfe's heart.
00:35Body cam video of the aftermath also captured Anthony crying over the murder, and admitting
00:45to being the perp cops were desperately searching for.
00:49During a tense trial, Anthony claimed self-defense, but a jury rejected that.
00:54After three hours, the jury in McKinney, Texas, convicted Anthony of murder.
00:59He was sentenced to 35 years in prison.
01:01As the murder case made national headlines, tensions escalated over race, with some of
01:06Anthony's supporters trying to paint Metcalfe, who was white, as a bully who targeted Anthony
01:11who was black.
01:12Hate-filled clashes focused on race also erupted outside the courthouse after Anthony's conviction.
01:17As Anthony's supporters broke down crying, dueled in screaming matches, and led to at
01:22least one Metcalfe supporter getting arrested.
01:25Some supporters have even started posting sickening videos on TikTok, making fun of the
01:29murder, where they gleefully dance about Metcalfe's death in a new trend they distastefully call
01:34the Austin Bob.
01:35But it looks like Anthony's supporters are holding onto new hope that a group of high-profile
01:40attorneys will be able to free the killer.
01:42According to a report from CBS News, a team of elite civil rights lawyers are planning to
01:47join together pro bono in an effort to overturn Anthony's conviction and his 35-year prison
01:53sentence.
01:54The group includes Texas NAACP President Gary Bledsoe, veteran appellate attorney Russell
02:00Wilson, and civil rights lawyer Brooke Cluse from Ben Crump Law, among others.
02:05The lawyer said in an announcement that they planned to conduct an independent review of
02:09the trial to determine whether any errors occurred in the pursuit of an appeal.
02:14Our appellate team has been retained following the conviction to conduct a fresh, independent
02:18review of the trial record, the group said in a statement.
02:21We recognize the profound loss suffered by one young man's family and the uncertainty
02:26facing another, and we extend our respect to everyone whose lives have been forever changed
02:30by these events.
02:31Anthony, who is locked up in a Texas state prison, claimed in his notice of appeal that
02:36he is a, quote, penniless, destitute, and indigent person, too poor to employ counsel to represent
02:41me on the appeal.
02:43An appeal does not necessarily mean Anthony will face a new trial, and it could take several
02:47months for the appeal process to run its course.
02:49First of all, as it were parecer
02:50You
