75-year-old Atlanta attorney ruled 'guilty' of murder in wife's shooting
24 April 2018 4:07 PM GMT
Atlanta: After telling the judge that they were stuck and couldn't reach a verdict, jurors deliberated a few more hours before deciding that a well-connected Atlanta attorney intentionally shot his wife, causing her death.
Jurors found 75-year-old Claud "Tex" McIver guilty of felony murder and three other charges in the September 2016 death of his 64-year-old wife Diane.
The white-haired defendant, wearing a dark suit and tie, showed little emotion as the verdict was read.
The murder conviction carries an automatic life prison sentence. It remains up to the judge whether he will have the possibility of parole. No immediate sentencing date was set, and McIver was led out of court in handcuffs.
With numerous twists and revelations over the past year and a half and a trial that gave watchers a window into a privileged lifestyle the case captured public attention in Atlanta.
Afterward, the district attorney praised the outcome.
"We would like to say to Diane, 'We hope that you were watching, and we hope that you felt that we stood for you and we stood for the things you represented,'" Fulton County District Attorney Paul Howard said.
That echoed a refrain by Clint Rucker, the lead prosecutor in the case, who repeatedly urged jurors in his closing argument to "Stand up for Diane." Defense lawyers Bruce Harvey and Don Samuel did not immediately respond to an email seeking reaction.
No one has disputed that McIver shot his wife. Defense attorneys said at trial that McIver loved his wife dearly and Harvey called it "an accident in search of a motive." Prosecutors argued, however, that McIver intentionally killed his wife because he was in dire financial straits, his life was spinning out of control and that he depended on her financially and coveted her money.
Police initially charged McIver in December 2016 with a felony charge of involuntary manslaughter and a misdemeanor charge of reckless conduct. Prosecutors began investigating in January 2017 and quickly began to suspect it wasn't an accident, in part because the gun was in perfect working order and required a significant amount of pressure to fire when it wasn't cocked, Rucker said.
The jury heard from dozens of witnesses during about four weeks of testimony.
By late morning Monday, after roughly three and a half days of deliberations, the jury sent Fulton County Superior Chief Judge Robert McBurney a note saying they didn't see a path to agreement on four of the five charges. The judge sent them to lunch and then instructed them to keep deliberating.
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