UPDATE: Jurors in the Claud "Tex" McIver trial say they "don't see a path" to overcome their differences on the defendant's intent for all but one of the five counts, including malice murder. Judge Robert McBurney appears inclined to give the jurors an Allen charge, encouraging a deadlocked jury to reach a verdict. Return for updates.
Twenty-three hours have not been enough for a Fulton County jury to reach a verdict on accused murderer Claud “Tex” McIver.
They resumed Monday morning and, within 90 minutes, had three questions about intent for Judge Robert McBurney:
*How does intent affect the charge of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon? There must be an intent, the judge ruled.
*For an assault to occur does there need to be an intent to cause violent injury or just an action that causes the injury? Again, intent is required, McBurney said.
*On misleading conduct – does this mean the person who is subjected to the offense needs to be tricked or does the subject just have to ask or say something? The state must prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant engaged in misleading conduct in order to get (Dani Jo Carter, the sole witness to the shooting) to lie to police. Carter testified that Tex McIver suggested she tell police she wasn't in the SUV when the shooting occurred. She refused, and her decision is irrelevant to the charge, McBurney ruled. Intent is required. Success is not.
McIver waits in a courtroom divided between his supporters and those who think he intentionally killed his wife, Diane. Her colleagues at U.S. Enterprises make up the latter group, while McIver's sister and former masseuse Annie Anderson, a key defense witness, are among those composing the former. Both sides have remained spectators in McBurney's courtroom throughout the deliberations, waiting along with everyone else.
RELATED: As Tex McIver jury deliberations drag on — what does it mean?
McBurney may at some point impose an Allen charge, , but the seven-woman, five-man panel has yet to indicate they are at loggerheads.
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