India, June 9 -- Karmelo Anthony's defense team rested Monday, June 8, but the teen did not take the stand. This made his self-defense claim much harder to win, according to a veteran Texas attorney.

Nineteen-year-old Anthony's decision not to take the stand risks the jury not even being allowed to consider self-defense when deliberating, as his lawyers never outright acknowledged that he stabbed 17-year-old Austin Metcalf to death. This acknowledgment is often a key component of self-defense trials in Texas, defense lawyer Jeremy Rosenthal, who is based in Collin County, where the trial is taking place, explained.

"To get a self defense charge you have what is called a 'burden of production.' You have to show through your own evidence ...