Fulton County prosecutor who led Tex McIver murder trial wins award

April 17, 2018 - Chief Assistant District Attorney Clint Rucker, with a photo of Diane McIver behind him, holds a jar of sandy water, saying it will be crystal clear when he concludes, as he makes closing arguments for the prosecution during the Tex McIver murder trial at the Fulton County Courthouse.

April 17, 2018 - Chief Assistant District Attorney Clint Rucker, with a photo of Diane McIver behind him, holds a jar of sandy water, saying it will be crystal clear when he concludes, as he makes closing arguments for the prosecution during the Tex McIver murder trial at the Fulton County Courthouse.

Anyone who followed the high-profile Tex McIver trial with rapt attention will remember the name Clint Rucker.

Rucker is Fulton County's executive assistant district attorney, the prosecutor who delivered powerful lines to the jury in that murder trial, such as: "Ladies and gentleman, will you stand for Diane McIver as she cries out, 'Who will stand up for me?'"

McIver, an Atlanta attorney, was found guilty in April of felony murder and other charges for the fatal shooting of his wife in September 2016.

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A few months after that verdict, Rucker won the 2018 Assistant District Attorney of the Year award at the Prosecuting Attorney’s Council of Georgia’s summer conference. He was nominated by Fulton District Attorney Paul L. Howard Jr.

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The annual conference, in which the top assistant district attorneys in Georgia are recognized, was held in Jekyll Island on Sunday, July 22.

“Mr. Rucker has delivered successful prosecutions in a number of high-profile cases during his 20 years working in Fulton County,” a press release said. “Maybe none were more rewarding than the guilty verdict Executive ADA Rucker and the Diane McIver trial team secured in the murder case against (Tex McIver).”

For months leading up to the trial, the team worked seven days a week and sometimes 14 hours a day, Howard’s nomination letter said. It added that Rucker has a 98 percent conviction rate.

Rucker is the first African-American from the Fulton County District Attorney’s Office to receive the award since African-American ADAs were first employed by the county in 1973, the news release said.

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