A Fulton County judge on Wednesday sent Tex McIver to jail, revoking the bond of the prominent Atlanta attorney after a pistol turned up in his condo.
The decision by Fulton County Superior Court Judge Robert McBurney puts McIver behind bars. But McBurney said he is open to releasing McIver soon under more restrictive bond conditions.
McIver - who is charged with killing his wife - was led from the courtroom in handcuffs Wednesday.
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Prosecutors had sought to have McIver’s bond revoked after finding a Glock pistol in his sock drawer while searching his residence for financial documents earlier this month.
McIver’s legal team has maintained their client does not know how the gun got there.
McIver shot his wife, Diane, in the back as they rode in their SUV near Piedmont Park in September. He has said it was an accident.
His bond revocation hearing - typically a routine legal affair - lasted three days and took on the trappings of a full-blown trial.
McIver’s lawyers said they would have a bond proposal to McBurney Thursday in the hopes of getting him out of jail quickly.
McBurney suggested that that he would only approve a plan that kept McIver away from guns and should include measures such as an ankle monitor.
“Mr. McIver is effectively on house arrest,” McBurney said.
McIver’s lawyers argued on Wednesday that prosecutors want to put their client behind bars to “sweat him” for several months so he would be more inclined to take a plea deal.
"Mr. McIver has taken Herculean efforts to comply with his bond,” attorney William Hill said. “Mr. McIver is not a threat to the public. He is a 74-year-old man. He cannot survive in jail."
But prosecutor Clint Rucker scoffed at that.
"There really is no good explanation as to why this man has a gun in his sock drawer,” Rucker said.
“Why would he have a gun? It's because he is infatuated with guns. "
Credit: Henry P. Taylor
Credit: Henry P. Taylor
Police have charged him with reckless conduct and involuntary manslaughter, suggesting he didn’t mean to pull the trigger.
Prosecutors, however, are investigating whether the crime was intentional. In a filing made in probate court, they suggested that Diane McIver may have had a second will and that document may provide a motive for the shooting.
A successful businesswoman, Diana McIver, 63, led Corey Airport Services.
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