CLAIM: Andrew Anthony, the father of convicted murderer Karmelo Anthony, told viewers that his son’s jury was “all-white” during a recent interview with CBS Mornings.
“Take us inside that courtroom. What stuck out to you?” the interviewer asked Anthony.
“What stuck out to me, number one, was the all-white jury,” Andrew said before acknowledging that he disregarded that because “the truth is on our side.”
VERDICT: The truth, however, is something quite different from what Anthony claims.
According to sources reporting to Fox News Digital, the racial makeup of the jury, including alternate jurors, was much more diverse than Anthony alleges. Of the 18 total jurors selected (including six alternates), six of them were minorities. Of the 12 jurors selected for the trial, three were minorities, including Asians and Indians. The group was also diverse in terms of sex, with eight female jurors and four males.
It is true that the jury contained no black members. However, the prospective black jurors disqualified themselves by claiming they could not be impartial.
In one instance, CBS News reports, “One prospective juror whom prosecutors identified as African American said he would ‘…have a hard time putting a brother in jail.’”
Other potential black jurors were disqualified because they worked for the school district in which the murder took place. As Assistant District Attorney Dewey Mitchell stated, eligible Black jurors were all dismissed for non-racial reasons, including being educators.
Anthony’s father was present in the courtroom throughout the trial and could see the jury.