A legal turn of events unfolds today as a Texas judge weighs the decision to potentially award a new trial to Karmelo Anthony, a teen convicted of murder earlier this year. The conviction revolves around the tragic stabbing of a 17-year-old athlete during a high school track event.

In a significant development for Anthony, the judge originally overseeing his trial was removed just the day before this hearing. Judge Michael Chitty has now taken over to review requests from Anthony’s legal team, who are pushing for a retrial regarding Austin Metcalf’s death.

Currently 19, Anthony faces a daunting 35-year prison sentence. He appeared at Wednesday’s court session clad in a green prison uniform. Both Anthony’s and Metcalf’s families were present to witness the proceedings.

The defense team had requested the dismissal of state District Judge John Roach, partly due to a controversial television interview where Roach affirmed the jury’s decision, stating their guilty verdict was justified.

Anthony’s lawyers contend that oppressive courtroom rules and flawed jury instructions tainted the June trial. They also argue Anthony refrained from testifying due to a conflict with prosecutors concerning a pretrial deal intended to concentrate on events leading up to the fatal incident.

Jurors in the trial had rejected Anthony’s claims he acted in self-defense during a confrontation with Metcalf in the stadium bleachers last year. Students who took the stand described a heated exchange over Anthony’s refusal on a rainy spring day to leave a tent that belonged to Metcalf’s team.

The case attracted national attention in part because of a flood of social media posts that amplified the killing in racial terms. Anthony is Black; Metcalf was white. Lawyers on both sides, however, told jurors the tragedy had nothing to do with race.

During the recusal hearing Wednesday, Anthony’s legal team focused on comments Roach made to a Dallas TV station after the trial had ended. In the interview, which was played as the hearing began, Roach was asked if the jury got “it right.”

“Yeah, they did,” Roach said, adding: “Whatever they say, they got it right.”

During the interview, Roach also defended his courtroom rules and spoke about the onslaught of online postings about the case.

As national attention on the killing intensified last year, the families of both Metcalf and Anthony said they had been targets of harassment.

Several schools were competing at the track event when Anthony sat under the Memorial High School tent that was perched in the bleachers. Metcalf and others had repeatedly told Anthony to leave, witnesses testified, leading to an escalating confrontation.

Prosecutors said Anthony provoked Metcalf, and witnesses testified that Anthony was the aggressor.

Anthony at one point reached inside a bag and replied: “Touch me and see what happens,” according to a police report.

Metcalf pushed Anthony, according to witnesses, who said Anthony then pulled out a knife and stabbed him in the chest.

The Sussexes have already found a new place to call home in Britain, following their unexpected announcement of a return to the UK this month.

Prince Harry, 41, and Meghan Markle, 45, are reportedly planning a longer stay in the UK, with their children, Archie and Lilibet, expected to enroll in a local school.

However, the family is not anticipated to occupy a royal residence and will not resume roles as working members of the Royal Family.

For security purposes, the location of their new property is being kept confidential.

While they embark on this journey, Harry and Meghan plan to maintain their £11 million home in Montecito and their residence in Portugal. It’s still unclear whether their return to the UK signifies a permanent relocation.

Before departing for the US following ‘Megxit’, the couple lived in Frogmore Cottage until 2020.

They splashed £2.4million on renovations and redecoration at the Grade II-listed building, but only lived there for a year.

It comes as: 

Frogmore Cottage was said to be filled with furniture from the luxury store Soho Home. 

Ceiling beams and floor joists were replaced, the property’s electrical system rewired, new gas and water mains installed and £50,000 spent on soundproofing.

Soho House designer Vicky Charles – a close friend of the Beckhams and the Clooneys – was also enlisted to help decorate the property with vegan paint.

As part of the renovation, the Sussexes joined Frogmore’s two pre-existing semi-detached houses into one big family home.

In January 2020, the couple stepped down as working royals and moved to Montecito, California, where they lived until now with their children.

Six months later, Harry paid back the £2.4million and was officially evicted by King Charles in 2023, weeks after publishing his controversial memoir Spare.

However, the royal residence is not the only UK home the couple shared before departing across the pond.

Following their 2018 wedding, the couple signed a two-year lease on a £4.12million Cotswolds property nestled near Chipping Norton.

The four-bedroom farmhouse, situated on the Great Tew Estate, boasted a converted barn as well as another two-bedroom cottage.

The four-bedroom farmhouse called Westfield Large came with four acres of land as well as a heated patio, House and Garden reported.

However, it was not always grand million-pound renovations and quaint cottages in the Cotswolds for the Sussexes.

During their engagement in November 2017, the Suits actress moved to be with Harry in Nottingham Cottage after the famed TV series came to an end.

At the time, a source told UsWeekly: ‘With Suits over, so is Meghan’s life in Toronto.

‘It’s the end of a really precious era, so she’s definitely sad to see it come to an end, but she’s also really excited about starting a new chapter with Harry.’

But the 17th-century residence within Kensington Palace was not as glamorous as one may think, Meghan previously shared.

The kitchen in the Duke’s two-bedroom flat had black-and-white tiles, a dining room, and a small living room, which was around 1,300 square feet in size.

In the Netflix documentary Harry & Meghan, the Duchess previously said: ‘Kensington Palace sounds very regal, of course it does.

‘It says “palace” in the name. But it was so small.’

Harry chimed in: ‘The whole thing’s on a slight lean, really low ceilings. I don’t know who was there before; they must have been very short.’

In a significant legal development, Harvard University has consented to a proposed $53 million settlement. This agreement aims to resolve allegations by families who accused the esteemed institution of mishandling its anatomical gift program. Controversy arose after accusations that a former morgue manager unlawfully trafficked body parts from cadavers donated for critical research and education purposes.

Massachusetts Superior Court Judge Debra A. Squires-Lee gave preliminary approval to the class action settlement on Tuesday. The proposal includes the creation of two distinct funds to collectively disburse $53 million, thereby resolving the claims against Harvard University.

A hearing to potentially give the final stamp of approval to this settlement is slated for December 9, 2026. During this session, the court will thoroughly evaluate whether the proposed agreement meets the necessary legal standards for conclusive approval.

SAN FRANCISCO ARCHDIOCESE REACHES $395M SETTLEMENT WITH 530 CLERGY ABUSE SURVIVORS

The litigation followed the 2023 arrest of Cedric Lodge, who managed Harvard Medical School’s morgue for nearly three decades and who prosecutors said stole and sold parts of cadavers donated to the school for medical research and education.

Lodge pleaded guilty to interstate transport of stolen human remains and was sentenced to eight years in prison. His wife, Denise Lodge, was sentenced to 12 months and one day in prison.

Lodge admitted that, from 2018 through at least March 2020, he participated in the sale and interstate transport of human remains stolen from the Harvard Medical School morgue, including organs, brains, skin, hands, faces, dissected heads and other parts from donated cadavers after they had been used for research and teaching purposes but before they were disposed of in accordance with anatomical gift donation agreements.

He transported the remains to his home in New Hampshire without the knowledge or permission of Harvard, the donors or their families, officials said.

Harvard condemned Lodge’s conduct in a message to the school’s community Monday.

“His violations … were despicable, abhorrent, and a flagrant betrayal of our values as a medical community,” George Daley, Harvard’s dean of the faculty of medicine, and Bernard Chang, dean for medical education at Harvard Medical School, wrote in the letter.

The university noted that the federal indictment said Lodge acted “without the knowledge or permission of HMS.”

Harvard said the proposed settlement also includes a pledge by HMS to provide a statement to claimant families reaffirming that Lodge’s criminal acts were “morally reprehensible and inconsistent with the standards that Harvard University and HMS expect for the treatment of anatomical donors and their loved ones.”

The university also said it will establish an annual financial aid scholarship for medical students beginning in the 2027-2028 academic year in appreciation and honor of its anatomical donors.

“We hope that this resolution ensures that this never happens to another family ever again,” John Morgan, whose law firm, Morgan & Morgan, represented families in the litigation, said in a statement.