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.”
