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As Carmelo Anthony's murder trial enters its third day of testimony on Saturday, the attorney who successfully fought to keep cameras in the courtroom during the OJ Simpson murder trial says he sees disturbing similarities between the public's reaction to both cases, especially when it comes to race.
Royal Oakes, a California-based media attorney who represented news organizations seeking access to the court during the Simpson trial, told Fox News Digital that the same cultural and racial tensions that surrounded the OJ case in the 1990s appear to be resurfacing as Anthony's case continues in Texas.
“We may see the same development in this case that we saw in the OJ Simpson murder case,” Oakes said. “Great cultural and ethnic divide.”
Anthony is accused of stabbing to death student Austin Metcalf during an argument at a song convention in Texas. He has pleaded not guilty, and his defense team is expected to argue that he was acting in self-defense.
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A courtroom sketch shows Carmelo Anthony and his defense team as jurors watch surveillance video during Anthony's murder trial in the fatal stabbing of Austin Metcalf at a Frisco, Texas, fair. (Pat Lopez)
The case has sparked heated debate online and drawn fans to the courtroom, with discussions often going beyond the facts of the case itself.
When asked if Anthony's case has turned into a broader conversation about race in America, Oakes said, “This case is going to hit so many buttons. The issue of race in America, it's an important defense question.”
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Demonstrators show support for Austin Metcalf outside the Collin County Courthouse in McKinney, Texas, on the first day of jury selection in the Carmelo Anthony trial on June 1, 2026. (Derek Shook of Fox News Digital)
Oakes noted that public opinion around the time of the Simpson trial often broke along racial lines, with polls showing very different views between Black and White Americans.
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“And you can see the same thing in this case,” he said.
The attorney said the biggest danger in any high-profile case is allowing race or politics to overshadow the evidence presented in court.
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“It's certainly possible that the racial narrative can overshadow the real facts of the case,” Oakes said.
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At the same time, Oakes downplayed the impact of protests and supporters gathering outside courthouses, saying Americans have grown accustomed to expressing strong views in public.
Still, he acknowledged there is a point where the activism surrounding the case can become a problem.
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“There's a danger that public protests, when they're full of joy, when they go out so far, start to influence people,” Oakes said.
He cited the outcome of the Lord Rodney decision in Los Angeles as an example of how public pressure can influence attitudes toward criminal trials.
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Unlike the Simpson case, Oakes said today's debate unfolds through a series of viral clips, social media posts and comments that can shape opinions before the full story emerges.
“Today, it's a lot different,” Oakes said. “I don't think you're going to get anyone to sit down and watch eight hours on the day of the trial. Instead, you're going to see 800 tweets on social media.”
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Johnnie Cochran, Robert Kardashian, Barry Scheck, F. Lee Bailey, Shapiro and Alan Dershowitz comprise OJ Simpson's legal defense team during his trial. (Sam Mircovich/AFP)
That fast-moving information environment, he said, may make it harder for the public to separate fact from fiction.
“The biggest mistake people made when investigating the OJ Simpson case is that they went in with bias,” said Oakes. “It's either for or against Simpson, for or against the police, and they didn't have an open mind to see what happened.”
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For Oakes, the parallels between the two cases ultimately come back to one concern: that Americans are making conclusions before hearing all the evidence.
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“The main comparison between the OJ Simpson case and this case is that people are often racially biased,” he said. “The important thing is that whoever is appointed to the jury can assure the lawyers and the judge that they will be objective.”
