ATLANTA — Tex McIver, the Atlanta attorney whose murder conviction was overturned by the Georgia Supreme Court in June, has been transferred out of state prison and into county jail ahead of a bond hearing that could grant him a release roughly four years after the original conviction.
According to Fulton County Jail records, McIver was booked on Thursday.
His listed charges include felony murder, possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony and influencing witnesses. In its ruling earlier this summer the state Supreme Court overturned his 2018 convictions on felony murder and possession of a firearm but affirmed the influencing a witness conviction.
The court ruled that in the original trial for the 2016 death of McIver's wife, Diane McIver, the jury was not properly instructed to consider a lesser charge of involuntary manslaughter.
The Fulton County District Attorney's Office has filed a motion for a new trial in the case.
Meanwhile, McIver will appear before Judge Robert C. I. McBurney on Oct. 7 for bond consideration. He was previously granted bond and was out of jail four years ago in advance of the trial.
Intent: The Tex McIver Case podcast series
When his conviction was overturned, attorneys Don Samuel and Amanda Clark Palmer said their client had not received a fair trial and “look forward to showing the next jury that he is not guilty of murder.”
In the motion for a new trial, the district attorney's office said 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."
It is undisputed that McIver shot his wife. At trial, jurors had to decide whether they believed he did it intentionally.
His attorneys argued he unintentionally shot his wife on September 25, 2016. The two were riding in an SUV when he discharged a gun while traveling down Piedmont Road in Atlanta. Diane died after being shot in the back with a handgun while in the passenger's seat of the SUV. Tex was riding behind her and had a loaded revolver in his lap, evidence showed.
With traffic heavy on the interstate, a close friend of Diane's driving the three exited 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.
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.
A jury found the prominent Atlanta attorney guilty of felony murder. The jury acquitted him on the more serious charge of malice murder.
He was also convicted of aggravated assault and possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony, as well as found guilty of witness influencing involving an exchange he had with a family friend.