The Supreme Court of Georgia today reversed the 2018 conviction of Claude “Tex” McIver in the shooting death of his wife, Diane.
According to the Court’s documents, McIver appealed that the Fulton County trial court erred in refusing his request to charge the jury on the lesser grade of involuntary manslaughter and in allowing the State to introduce allegedly inadmissible and prejudicial evidence and make improper comments during closing argument.
“We conclude that the trial court erred in refusing McIver’s request to charge on the lesser grade of involuntary manslaughter, because the charge was authorized by law and some evidence supported the giving of the charge,” the Court’s opinion reads. “We further conclude that the failure to give the care was not harmless error, because we cannot say that it is highly probably that this error did not contribute to the jury’s verdicts. We therefore reverse McIver’s convictions for felony murder and possession of a firearm in the commission of a felony.”
Tex and Diane McIver had a farm, known as the “McIver Ranch” on Pea Ridge Road in Putnam County, and Diane also owned a condominium in the Buckhead area of Atlanta. They frequented the Putnam ranch and were active in the community, hosting events at the ranch and were regulars on one of Lake Oconee’s golf courses. Tex McIver, an attorney, also held a seat on the Putnam County Development Authority.
The evening of Sept. 25, 2016, the McIvers were traveling from their Putnam home to their Buckhead condo. Diane’s close friend, Dani Jo Carter, was driving, Diane was in the front passenger seat, and Tex McIver was seated behind her in the rear passenger seat.
They exited off the interstate at the Edgewood Avenue exit, at which time Tex McIver asked his wife to hand him his gun from the center console because he felt they were in an unsafe area. According to the evidence, Diane McIver handed her husband the gun, a .38-caliber revolver.
According to trial testimony from Carter, Diane was directing her the roads to travel, and at a traffic light on Piedmont Road at 14th Street, Diane was locking the doors to the vehicle when the gun in Tex’s hand fired, passed through the back of the front passenger seat and struck Diane in the back. At Emory University Hospital, Diane McIver told doctors the shooting was an accident, and Carter reportedly told the police it was a “horrible accident.” Diane McIver died during surgery as a result of internal injuries.
Tex McIver was indicted in April 2017, and reindicted in August 2017 for assorted murder charges. He was tried before a jury March 5 to April 23, 2018, and convicted of felony murder, aggravated assault, firearm possession, and influencing a witness. On May 23, 2018, he was sentenced to serve life in prison.