Karmelo Anthony Hires Powerful Legal Team to Appeal Murder Conviction

The fight for Karmelo Anthony's freedom is heading into the next round ... and a new group of heavyweight attorneys are now leading his effort to overturn his murder conviction.

A team including Texas NAACP President Gary Bledsoe, veteran appellate lawyer Russell Wilson II, and civil rights attorney Brooke Cluse announced Monday it has taken over Anthony's case and will conduct an independent review of the trial record while pursuing all available avenues of appeal.

As TMZ previously reported, Anthony was convicted of murdering Austin Metcalf and sentenced earlier this month to 35 years in prison. He had signaled he wasn't done fighting the case almost immediately ... filing a notice of appeal less than 24 hours after his conviction.

The newly assembled legal team says its focus will be determining whether any errors occurred during the proceedings -- and raising any issues it believes could support overturning the conviction.

The lawyers say they're taking a fresh look at the case ... and they also acknowledged the toll the case has taken on both families ... saying the tragedy forever changed multiple lives.

Anthony's conviction stems from the fatal stabbing of Metcalf during a confrontation at a Frisco, TX high school track meet. Anthony claimed he acted in self-defense, but jurors rejected that argument and found him guilty of murder.

As we previously reported, a Texas court recently unsealed a mountain of evidence from the case ... including bodycam footage, surveillance video, 911 calls and crime scene photos. Among the newly public materials were clips showing Anthony's emotional interaction with police after the stabbing.