Season 3 Episode 10: Karmelo Anthony TRIAL + VERDICT (Ground Coverage)| Mel from Watching World 777 · The Black Lawyers Podcast · Radar

Case Overview & Jury Selection Concerns2:31 – 6:29

2:31

So today we are obviously jumping into Carmelo Anthony's trial.

2:37

You know, Carmelo, you know, is not a celebrity like a Chris Brown or a Diddy.

2:43

But his case did resound around the world as an important case that everyone wanted to watch because it involved a black athlete killing a white athlete.

2:55

in Texas, of all places.

2:57

And also, they were teenagers.

3:01

I mean, these were teenagers.

3:02

This was an incident between teenagers.

3:06

And from the beginning, it seems like race was a driving factor with this case, even down to the jury pool, which we'll get to in a second.

3:14

But as far as we're concerned, it was not a reflection of his peers, which constitutionally, you have the right to that.

3:22

And so let's start off with the opening statement.

3:30

So we have this jury pool, as I mentioned, there are no black persons in this jury, right? I believe it was all Asian, white, and maybe Hispanic.

3:42

Yes.

3:43

You had five white women, five white males.

3:47

You had two Middle Eastern women, one Middle Eastern man, one Hispanic woman.

3:53

And then you had four Asian women.

3:55

That was the consistency of the 12 jurors and six alternates.

4:02

And so that was already concerning.

4:04

A lot of people were like, okay, well, how's he going to get a fair shot? And there's not a single Black person on this jury.

4:11

But this was the jury that was selected.

4:15

And so we have opening statements from prosecution and then the defense.

4:22

Can you tell us more about those?

4:25

OK, so basically they started off talking about they painted the picture that he had an open knife sitting there just waiting for something to happen.

4:34

It was not about race and it was not about self-defense, but basically he had these deadly and dangerous actions.

4:43

And they showed basically how he came there that day, probably to do something that was hideous.

4:49

In fact, they went on to describe how he ran off and threw the knife down and they painted the picture that he fled so that he could try to get out of the arena.

Case Overview & Jury Selection Concerns2:31 – 6:29

2:31

So today we are obviously jumping into Carmelo Anthony's trial.

2:37

You know, Carmelo, you know, is not a celebrity like a Chris Brown or a Diddy.

2:43

But his case did resound around the world as an important case that everyone wanted to watch because it involved a black athlete killing a white athlete.

2:55

in Texas, of all places.

2:57

And also, they were teenagers.

3:01

I mean, these were teenagers.

3:02

This was an incident between teenagers.

3:06

And from the beginning, it seems like race was a driving factor with this case, even down to the jury pool, which we'll get to in a second.

3:14

But as far as we're concerned, it was not a reflection of his peers, which constitutionally, you have the right to that.

3:22

And so let's start off with the opening statement.

3:30

So we have this jury pool, as I mentioned, there are no black persons in this jury, right? I believe it was all Asian, white, and maybe Hispanic.

3:42

Yes.

3:43

You had five white women, five white males.

3:47

You had two Middle Eastern women, one Middle Eastern man, one Hispanic woman.

3:53

And then you had four Asian women.

3:55

That was the consistency of the 12 jurors and six alternates.

4:02

And so that was already concerning.

4:04

A lot of people were like, okay, well, how's he going to get a fair shot? And there's not a single Black person on this jury.

4:11

But this was the jury that was selected.

4:15

And so we have opening statements from prosecution and then the defense.

4:22

Can you tell us more about those?

4:25

OK, so basically they started off talking about they painted the picture that he had an open knife sitting there just waiting for something to happen.

4:34

It was not about race and it was not about self-defense, but basically he had these deadly and dangerous actions.

4:43

And they showed basically how he came there that day, probably to do something that was hideous.

4:49

In fact, they went on to describe how he ran off and threw the knife down and they painted the picture that he fled so that he could try to get out of the arena.