ATLANTA — The Georgia Supreme Court on Thursday granted a new trial for Claud “Tex” McIver, a former Atlanta lawyer who was convicted of his wife’s murder.
In a unanimous ruling, the state high court ruled that jurors should have been allowed to consider a misdemeanor involuntary manslaughter charge, not only a murder charge, for the fatal shooting. This would have let jurors decide whether McIver was criminally negligent when he fired the fatal shot, not that he intentionally killed his wife.
Justice Michael Boggs, writing for the court, said the involuntary manslaughter charge “was authorized by law and some evidence supported the giving of the charge.”
This is the second time is just over a week the state high court reversed a high-profile murder conviction. Last week, it granted a new trial for Justin Ross Harris, who had been found guilty of murdering his 22-month-old son by leaving him in a hot car. The court found that the judge overseeing the case had improperly allowed too much prejudicial evidence of Harris’ extramarital sexual relations.
Tex and Diane McIver were seen as a wealthy and connected power couple. Tex McIver was a labor lawyer with deep ties to the state Republican Party. Diane McIver was an executive at U.S. Enterprises, known for her work ethic and sharp tongue.
The killing occurred Sept. 25, 2016, when the couple returned home to Atlanta from their 84-acre ranch in Putnam County. After they entered the city, McIver asked for his .38-caliber revolver from the center console because he thought they had driven upon a Black Lives Matter protest, according to testimony.
McIver was sitting in the back seat behind his 64-year-old wife. Her best friend, Dani Jo Carter, was driving the Ford Expedition.
When they came to a traffic light on Piedmont Avenue, Diane McIver told her husband to wake up and not fall asleep. Soon after, Tex McIver fired a shot through the front seat into Diane McIver’s back.
McIver did not call 911. Instead, he directed Carter to take his wife to Emory University Hospital, where she died during surgery.
McIver told police what happened was a tragic mistake, that he fell asleep while holding a handgun. But prosecutors argued that McIver had a financial motive to kill his wife and later tried to cover it up.
The jury’s verdict was contradictory. Jurors declined to convict McIver of malice murder — that he intentionally, with “malice aforethought,” killed his wife. Instead, jurors convicted McIver of felony murder, with the underlying offense being aggravated assault — that he intended to shoot Diane.
McIver, 79, who was sentenced to life in prison, is now entitled to a new trial.
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