Tex McIver: Fulton County DA asks court for new murder trial
ATLANTA - Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis is petitioning the court to retry the case against Claud Lee "Tex" McIver III, after the Georgia Supreme Court overturned his murder conviction earlier this month.
The district attorney’s office filed a motion of Friday requesting a new trial be set 180 days from the Georgia Supreme Court’s ruling. The DA outlined the reasoning for the decision to retry the case in the motion.
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Tex McIver
The district attorney’s office wrote:
"However, as the Supreme Court acknowledged that the evidence the State’s presented against Defendant at trial was sufficient to authorize a rational jury to conclude beyond a reasonable doubt that Defendant was guilty of the crimes for which he was convicted, the State is authorized to retry Defendant for those crimes."
In its motion for a new trial, the district attorney’s office notes that the Supreme Court found there was enough evidence at trial for a rational jury to conclude beyond a reasonable doubt that McIver was guilty of the crimes for which he was convicted.
"The jury which served at the original trial of this case evaluated all of the evidence and unanimously convicted (McIver) of intentional crimes against his wife," the motion says. "This fact weighs heavily in the State’s consideration of how best to serve the interests of justice in this case. This District Attorney believes very strongly that a jury of one’s peers, working as a body, is best positioned to evaluate the accuracy of testimony and other evidence in a case to determine an individual’s culpability under the law."
McIver was convicted in 2018 of felony murder and possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony in the shooting death of his 64-year-old wife, Diane.
Dani Jo Carter, a close friend of Diane McIver, was driving the couple’s Ford Expedition the evening of Sept. 25, 2016, as the three returned from a weekend at the McIvers’ horse farm about 75 miles east of Atlanta. Diane McIver was in the front passenger seat and Tex McIver was in the back seat behind his wife.
With traffic heavy on the interstate, Carter exited in downtown Atlanta. McIver said, "Girls, I wish you hadn’t done this. This is a really bad area," and asked his wife to get his gun from the center console and hand it to him. A short while later, McIver fired the gun once, striking his wife in the back. Carter drove to a hospital where Diane McIver died.
There was never any dispute that McIver shot his wife — the question at trial was whether he meant to. Prosecutors said he was driven to kill her because he coveted his wife’s money. Defense attorneys said that was nonsense, that McIver loved his wife dearly and her death was a terrible accident.
The Supreme Court reversed McIver's convictions because they say the trial court "erred in denying his request to charge the jury on a lesser involuntary manslaughter offense."
Then-Presiding Justice Michael Boggs, who this week became chief justice, wrote in the unanimous opinion, "While the State’s evidence was sufficient to support the appellant’s conviction of murder, it also could have supported a finding that the appellant killed the victim without any intention of doing so in the commission of an unlawful act."
When his conviction was overturned, attorneys Don Samuel and Amanda Clark Palmer said their client had not received a fair trial and that they "look forward to showing the next jury that he is not guilty of murder."
During his trial, Tex McIver admitted to fatally shooting his wife but said it was an accident. He said that he had fallen asleep and the gun he was holding for protection accidentally went off.
The McIvers were wealthy and well-connected. He was a partner at a prominent labor and employment law firm and served on the state election board. She was president of U.S. Enterprises Inc., the parent company of Corey Airport Services.
At the time of the shooting, Tex McIver was no longer a partner at his firm and his income had dropped significantly. He and his wife kept separate finances and prosecutors alleged he killed his wife because he needed her money to cover his expenses. Defense attorneys disputed that, saying McIver deeply loved his wife and her death was a tragic accident.
McIver was found guilty of felony murder, aggravated assault, possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony, and influencing witnesses in connection with the death of his wife. That means the jury found that he intentionally shot his wife, and that led to her death. The jurors in his trial acquitted McIver of malice murder. He was sentenced to life in prison.
While the high court overturned McIver's murder conviction, it upheld his conviction for influencing a witness.
The Associated Press contributed to this report