Former lawyer’s felony murder conviction to be overturned in 2022
In 2022, the Georgia Supreme Court overturned Tex McIver’s 2018 conviction. McIver was originally convicted of felony murder and possession of a firearm in the 2016 shooting death of his wife, Diane McIver.
A former Atlanta lawyer previously convicted of murdering his wife took a plea deal on January 26 and could be released next year, his lawyer said.
Claude Lee “Tex” McIver III pleaded guilty to manslaughter in exchange for an eight-year prison sentence, a significant change from the life sentence he originally received in 2018. He is eligible for parole,” said attorney Amanda Clark Palmer. Fox News Digital.
“He will ‘max out’ in the fall of 2025, meaning he must be released by that date,” Clark Palmer said in a statement. “It is possible that he could be released sooner through parole. In theory, the parole board could decide to release him today, but as a practical matter, given Mr. McIver’s circumstances, So I think it’s going to take a few months to come to a decision.”He’s not the only inmate they have to evaluate and consider for parole. ”
Clark Palmer added: “All parties believe this disposition is a reasonable way to resolve the case at this time.”
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Claude Lee “Tex” McIver III (Bob Andress/Atlanta Journal-Constitution via AP/File)
According to a report in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Fulton County (Georgia) Superior Court Judge Robert McBurney called a plea deal a “sounder, cleaner way to achieve justice” than a retrial. Diane added that she was a “bright light that went out.”
“Diane is the best friend I’ve ever had. She’s the best partner I could ever imagine. I will always love her,” McIver said in court on January 26, according to the AJC. said. “She died as a result of my actions, plain and simple. I’ve been wearing my wedding ring since the day we got married and I plan on wearing it until the day I die. We’re at a point where we’re both comfortable with each other. “I hope we don’t judge each other and we can all move forward. She is my angel and is waiting for me in heaven.”
“Mr. McIver should not have had his finger on the trigger with a loaded gun in his hand,” the judge said. “Those who seek pure punishment through this process will be disappointed.”
Tex McIver was sentenced to eight years in prison on January 26 after pleading guilty to manslaughter in connection with the 2016 shooting death of his wife. (FOX 5 Atlanta)
McIver was originally convicted in 2018 of felony murder and felon in possession of a firearm for the 2016 shooting death of his late wife, Diane McIver, which McIver maintains was an accident.
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The Georgia Supreme Court vacated the original conviction in 2022 after McIver appealed in 2020.
On the night of September 25, 2016, McIver, Diane, and Diane’s friend “Dani Jo Carter” were returning from a weekend at McIver’s property in Putnam County when they drove to Diane’s home in Atlanta’s Buckhead neighborhood. I was on my way to Mr.’s apartment. Stop by Conyers for dinner,” then-Chief Justice Michael Boggs wrote in the Supreme Court’s decision. Tex was in the back passenger seat, Diane was in the front passenger seat, and Carter was driving.
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Due to traffic congestion in Atlanta, the three took a detour and got off at the Edgewood Avenue exit.
McIver was originally convicted in 2018 of felony murder and possession of a firearm in the 2016 shooting death of his wife. (FOX 5 Atlanta)
“Guys, I wish we hadn’t done this. This is a really bad neighborhood,” McIver told Diane, and asked her to hand over the .38-caliber revolver that was in a plastic bag in the center console.
Later, while stopped at a traffic light, Diane locked the door and Carter testified that he heard a loud “thud.” McIver fired the gun while it was in a plastic bag, and the bullet went through Diane’s seat and hit her in the back. They drove to Emory University Hospital, where Carter and McIver told authorities the shooting was an accident.
“Diane died during surgery from internal injuries to her spine, pancreas, kidneys and stomach,” Boggs wrote.
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McIver and Diane had been married for 11 years and were each other’s second partners.
Diane McIver and Tex McIver had been married 11 years before Tex shot and killed her in an accident. (FOX 5 Atlanta)
Prosecutors argued that the defendant repeatedly changed his story, saying that he accidentally fired the gun while he was sleeping, or that he accidentally fired the gun while driving over a bump in the road. Additionally, her nurse testified that Ms. McIver was “cleaning her gun in her bathroom when he shot her” over her head.
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A firearms expert testified that the gun was in good condition and could not have fired without pulling the trigger. McIver’s defense argued that the bullet’s trajectory showed the gun may have been lying sideways in his lap when it was fired.
Prosecutors also argued that McIver had a financial motive for killing his wife and that he “regularly sent money to McIver,” increasing his net worth from about $1.5 million to between $5.9 million and $6.9 million, the court heard. the record states.
Claude “Tex” sits with his attorneys Don Samuel (center), Bruce Harvey and others after being sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole at the Fulton County Courthouse in Atlanta on May 23, 2018.・Mr. McIver (left). (Alyssa Pointer/Atlanta Journal Constitution/TNS/Sipa USA)
The defendant argued in his appeal that when he asked for a gun, prosecutors implied he was “racially biased” against people in the area where he was driving.
“he [i.e., McIver] I was worried about the people around me, the homeless people, maybe a carjacker. I didn’t know who everyone was. Maybe they were Black Lives Matter protesters,” a witness said during the 2018 trial.
Boggs cautioned “states and trial courts to be mindful of the inappropriateness of such arguments in the event of a retrial,” adding that “some portions of the state’s closing argument… I have doubts about it.”
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“We particularly note and object to the prosecutor’s presentation of a PowerPoint slide with the word ‘KKK’ written in bullet points during closing arguments. ultimately acknowledged that no evidence was presented at trial to support any inference that the Ku Klux Klan was involved in this incident,” Boggs wrote.
The Georgia Supreme Court ultimately ruled that the state did not “abuse its discretion in admitting this evidence” in accusing McIver of racial bias.
