McIver soon to be released from prison

Aug. 26—Once a prominent lawyer, Claude E. "Tex" McIver has for nearly four years been known as a convicted murderer.

He has been confined to a small prison cell in Georgia since April 2018, after his conviction in Fulton County Superior Court in the shooting death of his wife, Diane, a prominent socialite, who along with her husband lived in their condominium in the Buckhead near Atlanta.

The 80-year-old McIver, who once lived part-time at the horse and cattle ranch he and his wife owned off Pea Ridge Road in Putnam County, will soon walk out of prison for the first time.

McIver, who once served as a member of the Putnam County Development Authority, is scheduled to be released from the Long Unit of Smith State Prison in Ludowici on Sept. 1.

But he won't be a free man.

Instead, he will be taken back to a Fulton County Jail in Atlanta where he will be held pending a possible bond while awaiting a new trial date.

In court documents, the Supreme Court of Georgia cited the fact that the trial court erred because the judge denied the request of defense attorneys to have jurors receive a charge related to the lesser offense of involuntary manslaughter.

Supreme Court of Georgia Justice Michael Boggs wrote in the court's decision that the lesser grade of involuntary manslaughter was authorized by law to have been given to jurors.

"We further conclude that the failure to give the charge was not a harmless error, because we cannot say that is highly probable that this error did not contribute to the jury's verdict," Justice Boggs wrote. "We, therefore, reverse McIver's convictions for felony murder and possession of a firearm in the commission of a felony."

The trial judge was Robert McBurney, who serves as chief judge of Fulton County Superior Court.

Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis has publicly said she will retry McIver on the murder and firearm charges.