Atlanta attorney Claud “Tex” McIver Monday night walked out of the Fulton County Jail, with a clear plastic bag full of books and papers slung over his shoulder and not a word to the waiting press.
McIver, 74, charged with murder in the shooting death of his wife, Diane, posted bond earlier in the day Monday. He was released shortly before 9 p.m. Attorney Don Samuel, a member of his defense team, told the assembled media that McIver would have no comment.
A Fulton judge revoked McIver's initial bond eight months ago. After a hearing in October, the judge set a new bond of $750,000, but it took McIver two months to raise the $75,000 — 10 percent of the full bond — required to secure his release.
The court ordered that McIver be fitted with an ankle monitor before leaving the jail, and his release was briefly delayed while he waited for a person with the monitor to arrive at the jail.
Earlier in the day, attorney Bruce Harvey, another member of his defense team, said he was pleased McIver could finally get out of jail.
“Freedom is the norm in our society for those who are presumptively innocent and accused of crimes,” Harvey said. “We’re glad Tex can get back to a semblance of normal life for the holidays while we get ready for trial.”
McIver, a politically connected labor lawyer, is charged with murder in the shooting death of his wife Diane on the night of Sept. 25, 2016, as they drove along Piedmont Avenue. McIver was sitting behind Diane in the back passenger seat and a family friend was driving. McIver fired one shot through Diane's back, and she died later that night at Emory University Hospital.
McIver insists the shooting was accidental. He said he had dozed off and pulled the trigger after being jolted awake. Fulton prosecutors say McIver knew exactly what he was doing and contend there is a financial motive behind the shooting.
Credit: Bob Andres
Credit: Bob Andres
After he was arrested late last year, McIver was released on bond. But Judge Robert McBurney ordered McIver to be taken back into custody in April after investigators found a handgun in a sock drawer of McIver's luxury Buckhead condo. The presence of the weapon was a violation of his first bond. In approving McIver's second bond, McBurney specified "no firearms, loaded or unloaded, in his residence. This includes all sock drawers."
While out on bond once again, McIver must live in the Buckhead condo, with strict restrictions as to when he can come and go.
"The McIver Murder Case" has been the subject of Breakdown, a podcast by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. You can listen on iTunes, Stitcher or your favorite podcast platform. Or you can stream the first episode here:
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