The Breakfast Club - The Judge Speaks + Part Two: Karmelo Anthony's Parents

Episode Date: June 15, 2026

Judge John Roach Jr.  who presided over the Karmelo Anthony murder trial is speaking publicly for the first time since the verdict. Mimi Brown breaks down what the judge said about cameras in the courtroom, the all-non-Black jury,  and the rumors about his relationship with the Metcalf family. Then — Part Two of Mimi's exclusive sit-down with Karmelo Anthony's parents, recorded hours after the verdict and sentence came down.  From the Black Effect Podcast Network.YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@BreakfastClubPower1051FMSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Joy is essential and it's also elusive, but now there's a new and exciting way to start your journey toward a more joyful existence, Joy 101. It's a new podcast hosted by me, Hoda Kotby. If you're craving inspiration to maximize your joy, tune into these candid, uplifting, and moving on-air chats. Open your free IHeart Radio app. Search Joy 101 and listen now. Joy 101 with Hoda Kotby is presented by CVS. It just came out. Jeremy, what did you just do? You just sit yourself up for failure.

I've never heard you tell this story. I've never told this story. This must have been tucked deep, deep in the Jeremy Lynn file. My name is MC Jen. I'm excited to tell you about laugh but not least. I'll be chatting with guests from all walks of life about the power of humor when it comes to facing difficult times. These will be conversations that remind us all. Life is hard.

Laugh harder. Listen to laugh but not least with MC Jen on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. Happy pride from the Outspoken Podcast Network. All month long and all year round, we're celebrating being loud, proud, and always original. It's me, Brandon Kyle Goodman, host of the podcast, Tell Me Something Messy. Check out my show for unfiltered takes on dating, relationships, and adulting. Listen to High Key for the best pop culture takes, and there are no girls on the internet for all your tech news. For your favorite celebrity key keys, check outlaws with T.S. Madison.

Learn to love yourself unapologetically with BFF, Black Fat Fem. and start your day with intention with waking up with Ryan coming in July. Celebrate Pride with the Outspoken Network. Open your free IHeart Radio app. Search Pride and listen now. It's that time to put on your jersey and wave your flag, whoever you root for. Why do I watch the Walk Up? That's like asking me, why do I breed?

And it's beautiful. The guys are young and cute and fat. It's not just a game. It's your culture. I like watching it with my dad. It's a connecting force. From Futuro Studios, I'm Fernanda Chavari, and this is American Football, a show about soccer culture in the U.S. and its underdog roots. Listen to American Football on the I-Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Coming up, part two of my exclusive conversation with Carmelo Anthony's parents. Would not stop fighting for justice for myself? But first, the judge who presided over the trial is speaking publicly for the first. first time since the verdict. And I know I made people mad, but I'm not here to make them happy either. It's Monday, June 15th. From the Black Effect podcast network, I'm Mimi Brown. This is Front Page. Stay with me. So the judge in the Carmelo Anthony case, Judge John Roach Jr., is speaking out for the first time since Anthony was convicted and sentenced to 35 years in prison. In a new interview, Roche defended some of his most controversial decisions that he made during the trial. Let's go through them.

So on keeping the camera out of the courtroom, the judge said his only concern was making sure both the prosecution and the defense received a fair trial. Let's listen. I hope that the MECAPs think that their son got a fair trial in this courtroom, as do I hope that the Anthony family thinks their son got a fair trial in this courtroom. I certainly think he did. He also addressed the criticism surrounding the jury, including concerns that there were no black jurors who were ultimately seated. Now, for me, he doesn't quite answer the question. but I'll let you listen. You denied the defense and dismissing of three jurors who at least identified as African-American on their bioforms.

What did you make of that moment? I'm sorry, the defense raised an objection. They raised an objection, yeah. They raised an objection. Like I told you before, as long as I follow the law, I sleep well at night. And I'm telling you, I follow the law in that case. Did I know what the perception was going to be? Sure.

I knew in the back of my mind what the perception was going to be. But I'm not here to satisfy perceptions. I'm not here to satisfy agendas. I'm not here to do any of those things. I'm here to follow the law. And I did it to a T. He's also rejecting rumors that he had a personal relationship with the Metcalf family. He calls those rumors false.

And when asked about Carmelo Anthony himself, he describes him as a nice guy who committed a crime and is now facing the consequences. And he also says that Collin County should serve as a model for how courts should handle high-profile cases, Let's listen to that. The case that we tried here in Collin County was a well-oiled machine. I mean, Collin County, it should be the model for high-profile cases from here on out. We constantly came together and met to make sure that Collin County was going to be a focus for a minute. And we wanted to make sure that everybody understood that, number one, don't come around and mess with Collin County. And one thing that does worry me a little bit is people go, oh, this was a five-day case with the evidence.

Five-day case, it must have been cut and dry. I don't know if that's true or not. It was five days because I wasn't wasting anybody's time. Our community needed to heal quickly. They needed this case over one way or another, but the case had to be fair first. But we accomplished that, but it was a gargantuan effort. And so we're very, very proud of our county, all of our employees, everybody in getting this case tried quickly because our community needed it to heal. All right.

So the community needed to heal. Let me push back on that just a little bit. A trial is not a healing ceremony. A trial is a search for the truth and the truth does not move on a timeline. It just seemed like it all moved really, really fast. The case was tried 14 months after a teenager died. I asked a defense attorney, David Otunga, who joined me last week if that was normal. He said it was normal for, you know, that sort of timeline for a trial to proceed.

The jury, though, was seated in two days. The defense had less than two weeks to put on its case, and the verdict came back very, very quick. The sentence came back even quicker. I don't know who this speed is serving. I know when you file an appeal, that takes time. That can take years. I've covered cases where defendants got years of pretrial motion, multiple continuances, expert witnesses flown in from out of state, lots of very different scenarios than this particular case.

So I just need to push back on that just a little bit. So here is part two of my exclusive interview with Carmelo's parents. It was recorded hours after the sentence came down. If you miss part one, go back to Friday. But here is part two. So even when you noticed there were no black jurors, it gave you pause. It made you want to say something, but you were still going along with the process. Yeah, it was going on with the process.

Because you don't know there's a lot of times when I hope this don't be controversial, but that's the first thing they do is they try to say, we're emotional. We don't follow instructions, right? So we did everything that we was advised and told to do and look what happened. So who was they? You said that they told you, who was they? Was it your defense attorney? Yeah.

So we were, because we haven't been 18, so what they did was they kind of played everybody against everybody. I'm not going to say they played us against each other, but it's almost they, you know, they had him scared. Like, hey, you know, this, I'm a lawyer. You know, this, this, this. As me being a father, all right, you're the guy, I'm okay with playing my position.

And I don't want to overstep any boundaries. Everybody kept saying, hey, the beat this, the beat this. I even went to some black attorney. They're like, oh, you need a white, you need a white attorney to go out there to fight out there. Remember they were telling us? They kept telling us that. So everybody like, why y'all did?

Everybody was telling us, okay, so then when we get it, they basically tossed them over. A lot of, a lot of objections wasn't done. It's a lot. It's a lot that wasn't done. So do you believe your son received a fair trial? No. Absolutely not. Absolutely not.

And we're going to keep fighting. Who would not stop? I'm fighting for justice for my son. Yeah, it's hard for us right now, and I've had my moments. We want our children to do better, right? We look at our YNs, this wasn't YN. So what we can do about this is not YN. We can make more YNs.

Now, you got a kid, like I just told you, everything that we're telling you right now is verified. Two jobs with the HV footlocker. That's who came to the buying. his GPA. He still graduated through all this. He still graduated high school. He still graduated.

The lady that he, the kid he saved, this stuff really happened. He was never in trouble. And no, he was never suspended for no knife. But they had, actually, what I learned was, they had a smear campaign that they did. I wasn't familiar with that. Like, you know, and a lot of people that we were reaching out with,

I understand business. a lot of people, you know, they got a lot of things going on. So we was reaching out. I was emailing, but everybody want to go through. You know, it's kind of a circle thing, which I understand. But I realized, dude, it is black entertainment is going to have to be a black network is going to have to be done because I'm looking for people who would not, would never understand. No matter how much you do it.

No matter how much you think they would never see it. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. You know, you're saying that as you were watching the trial, as you were in there, you know, you didn't want to question the process. You wanted to let it play out. But was there at any point that you felt the outcome was heading in this direction? No. Everybody live.

Look at the report. Everybody, everybody, it's called what it's, perjured, perjured to everybody did. Basically just did it with no, and they never was called out on it. I mean, literally they told within a hour of when it happened, it was two to three people. When they got to the trial, that's, oh, no, you know, it was, I'm like, wait, what? And don't get wrong, the defense of, hey, did you say this here? Everybody. One girl made up a lie, said it was over a race that my son just walked up.

This is crazy this is it. Yeah. One said on the stand and said, yeah, he just walked up to him and said, what, you want a race? it didn't even make sense and they asked did you lie? She was like, mm-hmm

on the stand. Nothing happened. Why didn't the defense call more witnesses? That's not my department and I apologize for that. I don't have to have. I'm just, you know, as you look

at it and you, you know, I'm not an attorney but I'm hearing you when you're telling me all these wonderful things about him and I'm just wondering did the jury get to hear, you know, all of these wonderful things about Carmelo. No, they didn't.

even when the one kid who was the corporate of all this, meaning the kid who invited him to the tent, he lied on the stand and said he didn't even know. And they had pictures, pictures with his grandmother, with his grandmother. Like, here's your grandmother, my son, your grandmother. Their whole family got multiple times played basketball. They got all kinds of different things.

Yeah. I mean, all of the witnesses' statements and stories were inconsistent. So we thinking that the jury is going to notice that. But they already had their mind made up when they sat in that courtroom. Their mind was made up already. How big of a role do you guys believe that race played into how this case was publicly viewed and how this outcome, this sentence was handed down? It paid a big part.

Race, politics, all that. I'm like, man, the kid, I mean, but vote, how he got into it. It was a lady talking about the left side and the right side. Like, what? These are kids. They put every, I feel like you had a certain group that they, of course, they go blame us that strategically made this about this because they knew they could do that smear campaign.

Like they said, we want to buy a new car and house. And it would hurt with me without my people. My people really believed instead of them going and doing their proper research. They had people really bashing them. I'm like, y'all really believed that. Who could buy a house in four days? Buy a house and four days. I know we may, sometimes we may not make the right decisions, but come on now.

Like, that didn't even make sense. It said it was going on a scraving and trips. There's a lot of things that they did to us that just, you know. There was a lot of misinformation that was going around, especially, you know, in the beginning. And, you know, I know your family had to move across. couple times because you were docks and, you know, I can't even imagine how Carmelo going through that, trying to finish school, fighting, you know, forced freedom. And you guys have other children, you know, so much on you as parents. How's your other children handling this?

Now, we had to end up taking them out of school because they had TikTok videos with my son with semen coming out of his mom because there's him saying, go get raped in jail. And it's just like, that was my daughter, my princess. She had to go through that. The other boys, we was in, we was in a pretty blessed community. That's why I hope a lot of people get this message. It don't matter where you at. It don't matter where you at.

Like, we was in the POSA been the safest place. But it's like they're telling us that you could be assaulted, it, but you better not fight back. That's what this is what this case saying. It can be two people, size, they don't matter. So that's what this case is really about. The family is saying, now I've just got a message. They're saying they were robbed.

Now, they were robbed. Now, mind you, if we have- As in the Metcalf family? I just got this thing. They just popped up saying they're saying people they're right. If we don't get the message now, and it's not because it's by-child. we would never get it.

This is the most crucial time ever, especially if you have kids. Because, again, you see, the child I'm telling you about right now, we all have kids like that. We sent them off to school. We sent them all just not looking for it. Again, he didn't go look for this. That's why they try to paint that picture. They painted a picture, and he didn't look for this.

Just walked into his life. Again, I want to thank the family for trusting me, with their story. We'll cover more on tomorrow's episode, a front page. So make sure you're tuned in. But for today, that is your front page. I'm Mimi Brown. Follow me at Mimi Brown TV.

And send me an email. Let me know what you think of the interview today's episode. Email me at front page with Mimi at gmail.com. This podcast was brought to you by the Black Effect Podcast Network. Joy is essential and it's also elusive. but now there's a new and exciting way to start your journey toward a more joyful existence. Joy 101. It's a new podcast hosted by me, Hoda Kotby.

If you're craving inspiration to maximize your joy, tune into these candid, uplifting, and moving on-air chats. Open your free IHeart Radio app. Search Joy 101 and listen now. Joy 101 with Hoda Kotby is presented by CVS. It just came out. Jeremy, what did you just do? you just sit yourself up for failure.

I've never heard you tell this story. I've never told this story. This must have been tucked deep, deep in the Jeremy Lin file. My name is MC Jin. I'm excited to tell you about laugh but not least. I'll be chatting with guests from all walks of life about the power of humor when it comes to facing difficult times. These will be conversations that remind us all, life is hard. Laugh harder.

Listen to laugh but not least with MC Jen on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. It's that time to put our... your jersey and wave your flag, whoever you root for. Why do I watch the walk up? That's like asking me, why do I breed? And it's beautiful. The guys are young and cute and fit. It's not just a game.

It's your culture. I like watching it with my dad. It's a connecting force. From Futuro Studios, I'm Fernanda Chavari, and this is American Football, a show about soccer culture in the U.S. and its underdog roots. Listen to American Football on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Happy Pride from the Outspoken Podcast Network. All month long and all year round, we're celebrating being loud, proud, and always original.

It's me, Brandon Kyle Goodman, host of the podcast, Tell Me Something Messy. Check out my show for unfiltered takes on dating, relationships, and adulting. Listen to High Key for the best pop culture takes, and there are no girls on the internet for all your tech news. For your favorite celebrity Kikis, check out Outlaws with T.S. Madison. Learn to love yourself unapologetically with BFF, Black Fat Fem, and start your day with intention with waking up with Ryan coming in July. Celebrate Pride with the Outspoken Network. Open your free IHeart Radio app.

Search Pride and listen now.