Karmelo Anthony and his lawyers filed a motion with the court in July that sought the recusal of Judge John Roach shortly after they filed for a new trial

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The judge who presided over the Karmelo Anthony murder trial in Texas earlier this year has now been recused from his post.

Judge John Roach Jr. was ordered to step down on Wednesday in response to a verified motion to recuse filed by the defense on July 5.

This comes as Anthony and his team prepare to return to court on Thursday in their bid for a new trial.

Judge Michael B. Chitty will now be overseeing those proceedings.

The defense argues in its motion that Anthony was denied a fair trial due to the many restrictions that Roach put in place during the trial.

That motion also accuses prosecutors of preventing Anthony from testifying in his own defense at his trial.

In their motion seeking Roach’s recusal, the defense argued that the judge should not be allowed to preside over the remaining post-trial proceedings because of television interviews he did with WFAA-TV just two days after the jury returned with its verdict, according to a copy of the motion obtained by PEOPLE.

The motion also stated that on June 19, Roach provided Fox News with a comment defending the rulings he made in court that was later shared by an employee of the network.

The motion was granted by Judge Sid Harle, who usually presides in another county, the Associated Press reported. Harle said he suspected Roach could fairly preside over further proceedings, but that his conduct could “reasonably” raise questions about his impartiality, the outlet reported.

Anthony was found guilty of murdering 17-year-old Austin Metcalf after a verbal altercation between the two young men escalated to the point of violence.

An eyewitness told police that Metcalf asked Anthony to move out from under a tent because it had been set up for members of his high school track team on the field that rainy day.

Anthony reached into his bag, according to the eyewitness, and told Metcalf: “Touch me and see what happens.”

Metcalf went to physically move Anthony, which is when Anthony pulled out a knife, stabbed Metcalf in the chest, and fled from the tent, according to the eyewitness.

The entire altercation lasted less than 30 seconds, according to the affidavit, which shows that multiple eyewitnesses described a similar version of events.

When the arresting officer arrived at the scene and referred to Anthony as an “alleged suspect,” the teenager responded: “I’m not alleged, I did it,” according to the affidavit.

“He put his hands on me. I told him not to,” Anthony told the officer at one point, and later asked authorities “if what happened could be considered self-defense,” the affidavit states.

Anthony is now serving a 35-year prison sentence.