Former attorney Claud “Tex” McIver was released from prison early Thursday, almost a year after pleading guilty to a charge of involuntary manslaughter over the 2016 shooting death of his wife, Diane McIver.
His attorney, Don Samuel, said McIver was paroled shortly after midnight. He said the 82-year-old wants to make the most of the rest of his life after his “miserable existence” behind bars for seven years.
“Nightmare doesn’t begin to capture what the past seven years have been like for him,” Samuel told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “He lost his wife, his friends and colleagues. I think he would have chosen any option other than that.”
McIver spent the past several weeks in a prison hospital in Augusta, Samuel said. He said McIver’s health is “not great,” in part due to his age and his time in Long State Prison near Hinesville.
Samuel wouldn’t disclose where McIver plans to live while on parole. He said McIver will spend several years on probation after his parole ends in October. If McIver wants to live outside Georgia while on probation, he needs approval from state authorities.
McIver also pleaded guilty in January 2024 to charges of reckless conduct and associated gun possession. He was sentenced to eight years in prison and seven years of probation, and given credit for the time he’d already served in custody.
“Diane’s the best friend I ever had. She’s the best partner I could possibly imagine, and I will always, always love her,” McIver said in court during his sentencing. “She died as a result of my actions, plain and simple. I’ve worn my wedding ring since the day we were married, and I intend to wear it until the day I die. I hope we’re at a point where we’re not judging each other and we can all move on. She’s my angel, and she’s waiting for me in heaven.”
McIver had been awaiting retrial on charges of felony murder, aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and associated gun possession.
The negotiated plea ended an appeal by the state of an order limiting its evidence in the retrial, which began in December 2023 but was delayed pending the outcome of the appeal. Fulton County Superior Court Judge Robert McBurney had barred prosecutors from alleging at the retrial that McIver intended to kill his wife, as McIver was acquitted in his first trial of malice murder.
McIver has always maintained that he shot his wife by accident as they were being driven through Atlanta by a friend in September 2016. He claimed he had fallen asleep holding his .38-caliber revolver in his lap while seated directly behind his wife and that the gun fired inadvertently.
In 2018, McIver was tried on single counts of malice murder, felony murder, aggravated assault and possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony, as well as three counts of influencing a witness. He was acquitted by the court on two of the influencing counts. A jury acquitted McIver of malice murder but found him guilty of the remaining charges.
McIver was sentenced in 2018 to life in prison.
In June 2022, the Georgia Supreme Court overturned all of McIver’s convictions except the one for influencing a witness, ruling in large part that the jury should have been allowed to consider misdemeanor involuntary manslaughter.
Once he completed a five-year prison sentence on the upheld conviction, McIver stayed in custody pending retrial on the charges for which his convictions were overturned.
Married in November 2005, the McIvers were a rich, successful and politically connected power couple. They had a luxury 3,400-square-foot condominium in Buckhead and an 85-acre ranch in Putnam County.
Tex McIver was a partner at a national labor and employment law firm. Diane McIver, 64, had risen to the top of U.S. Enterprises Inc., after more than four decades with the real estate and advertising business founded by Billy Corey.
The shooting happened on Sept. 25, 2016, as the McIvers were being driven through downtown Atlanta by Diane McIver’s best friend, Dani Jo Carter, returning to Buckhead from their ranch. Diane McIver was in the front passenger seat of their SUV and Tex McIver was seated directly behind her.
McIver has said he fell asleep while holding his .38-caliber revolver. The gun fired as the SUV traveled along Piedmont Avenue near Piedmont Park, striking Diane McIver in the back. She later died at Emory University Hospital.
As a term of his probation, McIver cannot have contact with the Carters, Corey and Corey’s employees. He is also barred from visiting Corey’s business property.
Tex McIver also abandoned any rights to a settlement in a lawsuit over Diane McIver’s death as part of his plea deal.
The state Supreme Court accepted the surrender of Tex McIver’s law license in April 2023. He had been an attorney in Georgia since 1973.
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