How no-nonsense judge in Karmelo Anthonys racially charged murder case made sure trial was ironclad

MCKINNEY, Texas — A no-nonsense Texas judge ran Karmelo Anthony’s murder trial like a “well-oiled machine” to ensure it was efficient, fair and wouldn’t get overturned, experts said — all while racial tensions have roiled outside the halls of justice.Veteran Judge John Roach Jr.oversaw the Collin County trial that ended with the 19-year-old black teen convicted of murdering white high school jock Austin Metcalf Tuesday and sentenced by a jury to 35 years behind bars — after which Anthony’s grandmother and a crowd of mostly black supporters blasted the outcome as “racist.”Roach — who has been on the bench since 2007 and is slated to retire at the end of the year — pushed the closely watched five-day trial along at breakneck speed, even having the jury sit for testimony on a Saturday and having them deliberate on both Anthony’s guilt and sentencing in one day, keeping them until around 7:30 p.m.

Tuesday.Collin County criminal defense lawyer Jeremy Rosenthal, who isn’t connected to the Anthony case and has had many cases before Roach, said the fast pace is normal for the judge.“He works very hard, very efficiently and very quickly,” said Rosenthal, who attended the trial Friday.“The speed at which this went is not a surprise to anybody who knows him.

This trial was a very well-oiled machine.”“He pushes people but that’s just what he does,” Rosenthal said.Roach also kept a tight lid on the trial — issuing a gag order barring prosecutors and the defense from making statements to the press.And he threw a number of people out of the courtroom gallery for talking during testimony and chastised a prosecutor for being two minutes late.Jurors were also sequestered in hotel rooms — without their phones — once they began deliberations.When it came down to controlling the media frenzy, Roach only allowed nine news outlets in the tiny courtroom to cover the trial, banning cameras altogether and only allowing 20 additional seats fo...