ATLANTA -- The high-powered Atlanta attorney charged in the shooting death of his wife asked a judge to be released from prison so that he could visit his sick mother.
Claud "Tex" McIver, 74, is facing trial for the September 2016 shooting death of his wife, Diane McIver, president of Corey Advertising. Diane McIver was shot in the back while riding in an SUV near Piedmont Park.
McIver told police that he was in the SUV's back seat with a loaded handgun in his lap when it accidently fired as he dozed off. The shot went through the front passenger seat, where 63-year-old Diane McIver was riding. She was transported to the hospital, where she later passed away.
He had originally been charged with misdemeanor reckless conduct and felony involuntary manslaughter, but a grand jury later indicted McIver on malice murder and six other counts, including three counts of efforts to unlawfully influence witnesses in the case.
McIver, who was an attorney with the law firm Fisher and Phillips before retiring in December 2016, was back in court Friday for an evidentiary hearing. He asked for bond to see his sick mother.
The motion states that McIver's 98-year-old mother was hospitalized in Arlington, Texas on August 15 with "end-stage COPD with hypoxemia, and with pelvic fractures after a fall."
"Mr. Mclver desperately prays to be near his Mother while she is still in life," the motion reads. "His suffering, having lost his wife and fearing the loss of his Mother, is unimaginable."
In the motion, McIver's attorney said that Patricia Carter, who was driving the SUV on the night of the shooting, gave an audio statement to police calling it "one of the most horrible accidents."
According to the motion, a doctor who treated Diane McIver the night of the shooting said that, "The only thing that (Ms. Mclver) actually said, which who knows what happened, but she said it was an accident without me prompting."
Judge McBurney presided over the hearing and started off with trying to rehash some confusion over several boxes that were submitted as evidence in this case. The boxes have remained unexamined for months; the defense claims they were obtained illegally.
Investigators testified on Friday that they collected financial documents in search of a possible second will drawn up by Diane McIver before her death. They said that could prove that Tex killed his wife intentionally.
There was no ruling on McIver's request to visit his mother, or if the searches were illegal.
After being re-indicted, McIver pleaded not guilty.
The next court hearing is scheduled for Sept. 5.
