A legal expert says that a self-defense strategy might be an uphill climb for a Texas teen charged with murder after allegedly stabbing another teenager to death during a high school track meet.
Karmelo Anthony, 17, is accused of stabbing 17-year-old Austin Metcalf to death April 2. NBC News reported that the incident unfolded when Anthony, a Centennial High School student, was sitting under the Memorial High School track team's tent. Metcalf, a member of the Memorial High School track team, told Anthony to move.
According to a witness, Metcalf told Anthony to move, and Anthony immediately opened his bag and put his hand inside, saying, "Touch me and see what happens." Metcalf was stabbed a short time later during a physical altercation.
Julie Rendelman, a New York attorney with more than 30 years of experience in criminal law, told Fox News that she believes self-defense might be a complicated legal strategy to pursue.
"If the evidence is what it is right now, I think he's going to have an uphill battle claiming self-defense," Rendelman, who is not involved in the case, told Fox News Digital. "But we may learn much, much more that changes that perspective. And that could be for a jury or a grand jury to decide."
Rendelman went on to say that she was giving her opinion based on available information, but that more could come out as the case progresses.
"If the scenario is... that the victim told [Anthony] to leave, and then in some way physically touched him without more, then I'm not comfortable – I don't believe that a self-defense claim will work," she told Fox.
Metcalf died at the scene in the arms of his twin brother. Anthony was released from jail last week after his bond was reduced from $1 million to $250,000.
"I'll also add that this case does involve a 17-year-old who's never been in trouble," Rendelman said. "And [the court] did add conditions, so it wasn't that they were just reducing the bail. They reduced it with the ankle monitor, with the housing confinement limited to going to... necessary appointments, [and] that he has to report [to the judge]. So it wasn't a reduction without any conditions."
Originally published on Lawyer Herald
