Unwritten deal kept Karmelo Anthony off the stand in Texas murder case

Texas jurors convicted Karmelo Anthony of stabbing a 17-year-old at a Frisco track meet and sentenced him to 35 years; now, in a bid for a new trial, prosecutors revealed messages and school records that were kept from the jury under an oral, unwritten agreement to bar damaging character evidence. The defense argues the deal could have covered Anthony’s testimony about the confrontation, while prosecutors say it did not; a judge was removed for bias, and a new judge will decide the motion by Monday amid security threats that accompanied the case. Anthony did not testify at the original trial, and the outcome hinges on whether the unseen evidence and the contested agreement could have altered the verdict.