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Karmelo Anthony sudden passion: How Austin Metcalf stabber can get reduced sentence after guilty verdict; law explained
Karmelo Anthony has been found guilty of murder in the Austin Metcalf stabbing case but due to ‘sudden passion’ he might get a reduced sentence.
Karmelo Anthony has been found guilty of murder in the Austin Metcalf stabbing case but due to ‘sudden passion’ he might get a reduced sentence.
The incident in Frisco, Texas left people divided. While Metcalf's lawyers argued that Anthony had carried out a ‘sneak attack’ on Metcalf, Anthony's counsel maintained it was an act of self-defense. At the time the trial moved to the punishment phase, Anthony's mother, Kayla Hayes told the jurors “Have mercy on my son.”
The state has reportedly agreed to allow the jurors to consider ‘sudden passion’ during Anthony's sentencing. This would allow for a reduced jail sentence.
What is ‘sudden passion’?
Texas Penal Code Sec. 19.02. states ‘sudden passion’ as ‘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.’
How Karmelo Anthony's sentence can be reduced?
Under ‘sudden passion’, Anthony's sentence range is reduced. When convicted of murder, he was facing five to 99 years behind bars. Now, he faces two to 20 years in jail, which is the same as the sentence length for a manslaughter conviction.
Anthony's lawyers had argued that he had been overcome by a strong emotion like fear, anger, or shock and had acted before getting the time to calm down.
Anthony had earlier been offered a plea deal, which he had rejected.
Karmelo Anthony: Austin Metcalf stabbing - what happened
Anthony, 19, was convicted of stabbing the 17-year-old Metcalf during a Frisco ISD track meet. Many of the witnesses, who were also students, described the two getting into a heated argument when Metcalf asked Anthony to leave their team's tent on a rainy spring day, and Anthony refused.
Notably, the two did not go to the same school. Anthony went to Centennial High School, while Metcalf attended Memorial High School.
During the trial, Anthony's lawyer argued that Metcalf had not had any right to put his hands on the accused. “Texas law does not require that you wait until you get hit. In that split second of chaos, you must put yourself in his shoes,” the lawyer said.
Prosecutors however painted the picture that Anthony had provoked Metcalf, and many witnesses also testified that the suspect was indeed the aggressor. The prosecutor stated “Mercy to the guilty, is cruelty to the innocent.”
(With AP inputs)
