210: Update on the Tex McIver Case

WEBVTT

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Southern Fried. True crime covers cases
that are not suitable for young listeners,

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00:00:08.640 --> 00:00:13.640
and there may also be some explicit
language used. Listener discretion is advised.

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In twenty sixteen, Text and Diane
McIver had spent a hot Sunday in the

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late September sun in Georgia, playing
golf and then going to dinner with a

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colleague of Diane's and Conyers, a
town about a half hour from Atlanta.

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Danny Joe Carter, Diane's friend and
manicurist, had acted as chauffeur for the

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couple that day after they played golf. She had gone horseback riding at the

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couple's Putnam County ranch as they golfed, and then they picked her up and

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she took over driving as they both
drank wine in the car as they headed

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to dinner. After dinner, it
was late in the evening as they were

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headed back to Atlanta and its famous
congested traffic, with Danny Joe driving,

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Diane in the passenger seat and Text
in the back seat directly behind his wife.

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Though red wine had been served at
dinner, Text didn't drink much of

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it. He didn't like it,
but still on the way home he struggled

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to keep his eyes open. Exhausted
after a full day in the Georgia heat,

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Diane kept turning around and fussing at
her husband, arguing that if he

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slept on the way home, he
wouldn't sleep well that night. As they

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neared Atlanta, traffic on the Downtown
Connector was a parking lot. Even at

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ten pm on a Sunday night,
you can count on Atlanta traffic being the

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worst. Diane told Danny Joe to
take the Edgewood Avenue exit, and then

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she turned around and told Text to
wake up. When he did, he

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looked around and realized they were in
a midtown area. He said, girls,

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this is a bad idea. This
isn't safe. He was talking about

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the area of Midtown they were in. Diane said, we'll be on Piedmont

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shortly. But then Tex said,
Darling, hand me my gun, and

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Diane reached into the center console and
pulled out a snubnosed thirty eight revolver wrapped

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in a plastic bag and handed it
to her husband. Text took the gun

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and laid it in his lap and
then knotted off back to sleep. What

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happened next would be hotly debated for
years and Text McIvor would go on trial

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for murdering his wife. There has
been a major update in this case since

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then, and today we're going to
go over it. Welcome to episode two

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ten. Update on the Text McIvor
case. Four and a half years ago,

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I released episode sixty six Text and
Diane McIvor accident or murder. As

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I said, there has been a
major update and the outcome is sure to

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reignite strong debate as to whether,
as the episode title implies, Text intended

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to kill his wife or whether the
tragedy was nothing more than a terrible accident.

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I have remastered and re released episode
sixty six if you want the full

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deep dive when I originally covered this
case, but for now, I'll do

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my best to summarize before we get
into the new court rulings. Late in

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the evening of September twenty fifth,
twenty sixteen, seventy two year old Claude

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Tex MacIvor and his sixty three year
old wife, Diane were on their way

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home in Atlanta, Georgia. Earlier
that day, they had braved the heat

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to play a round of golf,
followed by dinner and conyers with Diane's best

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friend, Danny Joe Carter, and
one of Diane's colleagues. Afterward, Danny

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Joe was driving the couple back to
the condo they shared in Buckhead. Diane

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was in the front pass in your
seat, while Tex sat behind her in

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the back. The couple were each
high flyers, professionally extremely successful in their

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own right, well connected and wealthy. Tex was a corporate labor lawyer and

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a partner with a prestigious firm,
while Diane was CEO of Corey Enterprises,

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where she had worked her way up
the corporate ladder since starting there as a

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payroll clerk forty six years earlier.
Diane was a shrewd businesswoman whose strong business

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acumen, directness, and ability to
make tough decisions garnered her a tremendous amount

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of respect. But underneath, she
was also a loving and generous person.

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She was definitely a conservative, though
not as obvious with her politics, but

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her husband was a loyal Republican who
served on the American Bar Association Committee on

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Gun Violence. It was a second
marriage for both Text and Diane, and

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those who knew them could see how
deeply in love they were, even after

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five years of dating and ten years
of marriage. That early fall night,

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texts, Diane, and Danny Joe
drove back to Atlanta after spending the weekend

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at the mcivor's ranch in Putnam County, where Danny Joe had been riding horses.

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After Text and Diane's golf outing,
they picked Danny Joe up at the

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ranch and their Ford Expedition SUV and
all went to dinner given Text and Diane

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both had a few drinks that afternoon
and into the evening. Danny Joe was

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the designated driver on the way home, but as they got closer to the

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city, the SVU pretty much came
to a standstill as traffic was bumpered a

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bumper on the Downtown Connector. At
Diane's suggestion, Danny Joe took the exit

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at Edgewood Avenue. Text dozed on
and off in the back seat. He

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had spent hours in the sun earlier
that day, and it was late,

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and he had now had some red
wine under his belt, though he wasn't

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intoxicated. When he awoke after nodding
off at one point and saw the area

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of the group was driving through,
he felt uneasy, saying, girls,

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this is a bad idea. This
isn't safe. Much would later be made

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of Texa's assessment of this situation,
given that Black Lives Matter protesters had been

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out in force in Atlanta since July
protesting police shootings for reasons that would later

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be debated. Text apparently felt unsafe, telling Diane Darling, hand me my

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gun. Diane pulled Texas loaded thirty
eight calibre revolver, wrapped in a plastic

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grocery bag, out of the center
console. She handed it back to her

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husband and text set the gun on
his lap before quickly falling back asleep.

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Not long afterward, the car was
still at a red light on Piedmont Road

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when Danny Joe heard what she later
described as a big boom. Tex,

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who had been jolted out of his
sleep moments earlier, realized the gun had

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discharged. Everyone seemed fine at first, but suddenly Diane realized she had been

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hit. Breathing heavily, she said, I've been shot. Tex instructed Danny

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Joe to drive to Emory Hospital,
where Diane made a dying declaration that her

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husband shot her accidentally. But as
Diane deteriorated with her blood pressure dangerously low

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and headed into surgery, the doctor
asked if she wanted to see her husband.

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She said no. Maybe she didn't
want him to see her in a

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state she felt would be distressing to
him. Maybe she was just too out

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of it to know what she was
saying. Who knows. Her death was

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a heartbreakingly abrupt ending the well known
couple who seemed to have it all.

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I'm going to pause now for a
short commercial break. Following Diane's death,

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Text told the police that he fell
asleep with a gun in his lap and

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at some point soon after it fired. He had previously commented at the hospital

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that the gun discharged accidentally when the
car went over a bump. Knowing his

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actions would be subject to strong scrutiny, and in an attempt at damage control,

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tex hired pr consultant Bill Crane.
Bill told reporters Text asked Diane for

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the gun as he was concerned they
were at risk at being carjacked in relation

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to the recent Black Lives Matter protests, even though there wasn't a protest in

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the area that night. Bill's comment
ignited a storm of debate about Texas racial

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bias, but Text denied it had
anything to do with Black Lives Matter.

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Things got more complicated when, according
to Bill, Text tried to change this

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narrative, saying he was worried about
homeless people in the area, not protesters.

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These conflicting accounts would later be used
against Texts and court. In December

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twenty sixteen, Atlanta pde initially charged
Text with reckless conduct and felony involuntary manslaughter.

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If convicted, he would face a
maximum of ten years in prison.

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But in April twenty seventeen, Text
was indicted on upgraded charges at the insistence

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of the Fulton County DA's office.
That is important to note a homicide investigator

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with twenty years experience had not believed
there was intent or need for the more

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serious charges. He believed it was
a tragic accident. Now the DA disagreed.

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Text now faced one count of malice
murder where intent is the key factor,

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like first degree murder and other states, and one count of felony murder

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similar to second degree. He was
also charged with aggravated assault with a deadly

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weapon, possession of a firearm during
a crime, and three counts of influencing

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a witness. But if it was
an accident, as Text claimed, why

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a malice murder charge there was understandably, a lot of focus on the decisions

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Texts made in the hours, days, and weeks following Diane's death. Like

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I said in the original episode,
even accounting for the grieving process, Texts

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showed extremely poor judgment on multiple occasions. When Diane was initially shot, her

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husband didn't call nine one one.
Instead, he directed Danny Joe to Emory

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Hospital, which wasn't even the closest
medical facility were the most equipped to deal

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with a gunshot wound. However,
Emery Hospital was one of his clients,

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so he knew how to get there
quickly. They didn't call nine to one

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one and were rushing Diane to a
hospital, so Tex chose the one he

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knew the way to. The text
also asked Danny Joe to say she wasn't

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in the vehicle when the shooting occurred, and it took two days for the

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police to question texts. Much was
made of this delay, making text look

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bad, but we need to remember
that the police did not insist on an

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interview right away. Following Diane's death, Tex asked one of her co workers

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if he could draw on his late
wife's social security then he auctioned off Diane's

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extensive, high end collection of clothes
and jewelry that December on the advice of

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all lawyer. Regardless of the rationale
behind these decisions, they look bad,

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some would say quite callous. These
things reflected poorly on Texts in the eyes

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of many, but questionable choices after
the fact are not indicative of intent,

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Meaning you can believe that Tex mac
Iver was a rich, white and titled

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asshole, but it doesn't mean he
murdered his wife. Those who believed it

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was a case of murder argued that
TeX's request to Danny Joe was an attempt

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to cover up something sinister from the
start, but the facts are more nuanced.

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Text had been drinking in the hours
before handling the gun, and handling

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a weapon under the influence in itself
is an offense, regardless of whatever does

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or does not happen afterward, so
it makes sense that Text wanted to avoid

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the repercussions of this, hence his
comment to Denny Joe. At Texas trial

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in April twenty eighteen, the defense
submitted that the jury should be able to

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consider the charge of misdemeanor involuntary manslaughter. In Georgia, this is when someone

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unintentionally causes the death of another person
by engaging in lawful behavior but in an

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unlawful way. But the request,
strongly opposed by the prosecution, was denied

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by Fulton County Superior Court Chief Judge
Robert McBurney. And I do have thoughts

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on this, which I'll come back
to later. I'm going to pause now

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That's Southern Fried to sixty four thousand. Message and data rates may apply sea

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terms for details. In my original
episode, I referenced the Atlanta Journal Constitution's

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00:16:37.039 --> 00:16:44.120
excellent podcast Breakdown, which covered Texas
Trial extensively. In twenty twenty two,

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00:16:44.720 --> 00:16:51.600
Vault Studios and eleven Alive WXIA News
released a compelling long form podcast of their

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00:16:51.679 --> 00:16:57.799
own, entitled Intent the Text,
MacIvor Case. If you're after blow by

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00:16:57.840 --> 00:17:03.919
blow accounts of Texas trial and the
aftermath, I can recommend both of these

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00:17:03.000 --> 00:17:10.519
as essential listening, and you can
watch the entire trial on YouTube. The

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00:17:10.559 --> 00:17:14.200
way Texas trial played out, you
would have thought it was the role of

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00:17:14.240 --> 00:17:18.200
the defense to prove the shooting was
accidental, when in reality, it is

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the state's responsibility to demonstrate the burden
of proof that this was a murder.

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There was a contentious debate from both
sides about the question of money. The

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prosecution case was that Text wanted Diane
dead so he could inherit her multimillion dollar

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estate. The court also heard that
Tex had recently become much more financially reliant

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on Diane after he went from equity
partner at his law firm to income partner,

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reducing his annual income from seven hundred
thousand to one hundred and twenty thousand.

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However, Tex was in his early
seventies and semi retired, so it's

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not as though he had gotten some
sort of demotion and was panicking about money.

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He was close to full retirement,
but like his wife, he loved

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working. The defense argued there was
absolutely nothing for Text to gain financially with

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Diane dead, as she earned more
than Texts. He was far better off

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with her alive so she could continue
to support their lavish lifestyle, and also

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she could lend her husband money if
he needed it. Loaning money was a

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favor Diane did for those close to
her. It might sound a bit unorthodox

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in the context of a marriage,
but Diana Text happily kept their finances separate

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with no issue. They had both
gone through ugly divorces from their first marriages,

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so this arrangement was what they both
wanted. It's what worked best for

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their marriage, which indisputably had been
a happy marriage for ten years. Even

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friends who later turned against Texts could
not argue that he and Diane had marital

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problems. After five years of dating
and ten years of marriage. They were

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still the kind of couple who held
hands all the time. Everyone agreed they

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had an extremely loving relationship. The
prosecution also tried to argue the existence of

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a rumored new will, which Diane
was said to have made before her death,

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naming the couple's godson as the soul
beneficiary, but no hard proof of

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such a will was ever produced.
All the testimony about Text and Diane's relationship

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spoke only to their undying love for
one another. There was no mention of

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conflict, upset, or tension between
the couple. At one point during the

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jury's deliberation, they reached a deadlock
on the verdict. Judge McBurney gave them

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an allen charge, fording them to
continue deliberating until they had an outcome.

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00:20:03.799 --> 00:20:10.640
Finally, after further deliberation, Tex
MacIvor was found guilty of felony murder,

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aggravated assault with a deadly weapon,
possession of a firearm during a crime,

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and influencing a witness. Despite expert
evidence, it was impossible to confirm whether

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the gun discharge as a result of
a single or double action mechanism. The

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verdict on the major charges made no
sense at all. How can you acquit

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on malice murder but convict on both
felony murder which requires the killing to occur

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during the commission of another felony where
intent is involved, and aggravated assault with

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a deadly weapon. Judge mcbarney later
said in December twenty twenty three that the

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00:20:51.160 --> 00:20:57.799
aggravated assault charge does not allege intent
to kill. The jury's decision essentially meant

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they believed Texts did not intend to
kill his wife, but they did believe

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he intended to seriously harm her.
It's difficult to find the logic in that.

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What would Texts have to gain by
maliciously wounding the love of his life,

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and not just in front of any
witness, but in front of her

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best friend. And why do it
in a car anyway? Who leaves themselves

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open that way if an act is
intentional, this too makes no sense.

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While no one is required to take
the stand in their own defense, the

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fact that Tex chose not to give
evidence may have also worked against him in

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the eyes of the jury. But
considering the many blunders he made after Diane's

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death, causing him to be a
pr nightmare, I'm sure his attorneys believed

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he would be a wild card on
the stand, But it seems that,

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based on how the information was presented
to the jury by both sides, they

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00:22:00.079 --> 00:22:06.839
simply did not believe that guns just
go off. The fact that Tex was

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00:22:06.880 --> 00:22:12.240
an experienced and passionate gun owner who
owned almost forty firearms made the suggestion of

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00:22:12.279 --> 00:22:18.480
an accident doubtful for the jury,
and it appears the jury did not feel

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00:22:18.480 --> 00:22:26.440
the evidence about a sleep diagnosis of
texas the rim sleep disorder causes sudden involuntary

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00:22:26.480 --> 00:22:30.680
movements during sleep, but the jury
did not believe this was a sufficient explanation

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00:22:30.799 --> 00:22:37.119
for the gun discharging if Texas finger
was on the trigger. In my episode

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00:22:37.160 --> 00:22:41.839
on Text and Diane, I noted
that much was made by the prosecution of

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whether tex would have had time to
fall into rim sleep so quickly between asking

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00:22:47.880 --> 00:22:52.160
for the gun and then Diane being
shot, which was said to be around

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00:22:52.240 --> 00:22:56.359
ten minutes. But as I noted
before, as witnessed by Danny, Joe

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00:22:56.400 --> 00:23:00.880
and Diane herself, at the time, Text kept nodding off, struggling to

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00:23:00.920 --> 00:23:07.880
stay awake, and as we fall
asleep we can experience something called a hypnic

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00:23:07.960 --> 00:23:12.640
jerk, which is a sudden muscle
contraction. While the defense did explain Texas

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00:23:12.680 --> 00:23:18.119
sleep issues, I'm not sure they
went into great detail to explain how he

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could have jerked and pulled the trigger. For example, in the Handbook of

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Clinical Neurology, the hypnic jerk is
defined as quote. Hypnic jerks or sleep

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starts are normal physiological events occurring at
the transition from wakefulness to sleep, often

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00:23:37.240 --> 00:23:42.200
associated with sensory phenomena such as a
feeling of falling, unexplained alarm or fear

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00:23:42.599 --> 00:23:48.759
in our electric shock or light flash. The most distinguishing feature of sleep starts

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00:23:48.079 --> 00:23:55.279
is that they occurred during drowsiness and
the transition from wakefulness to sleep before sleep

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on set. We don't know if
the gun was cocked because Tex said he

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00:24:00.279 --> 00:24:06.920
simply could not remember if it was, which makes sense given that Tex felt

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00:24:07.000 --> 00:24:11.880
uncomfortable enough to ask Diane for the
weapon. The amount of pressure required to

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00:24:11.920 --> 00:24:15.920
discharge the firearm was less than two
pounds. If it had not been cocked,

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the trigger would have needed twelve pounds
of pressure. Even after taking all

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the evidence into account, the jury
had clearly decided, rightly or wrongly,

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that Text did harbor intent to some
degree based on the verdict for aggravated assault,

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yet they found him not guilty of
malice murder. I personally don't get

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why Executive Assistant Da clint Rucker pushed
back so hard against involuntary manslaughter, or

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why the judge denied it. Juries
need to have all the options. That

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was quite the gamble, in my
opinion, and one which obviously paid off

269
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for the state, but one they
would now come to regret. And yes,

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I'm doing the told you so dance
in my head right now. I

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have talked about this gamble before,
most recently in the Ray Caruth trial,

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in which the gamble did not work
for the prosecution. I am more in

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favor of what I call kitchen sink
charges. Give the jury every option.

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I believe it is so obviously much
more fair to the defendant. But the

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problem, as I see it,
is that the state and defense attorneys would

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00:25:32.799 --> 00:25:38.400
often rather gamble with the defendants' lives
in order to prove their theories right and

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to be fair, the defense did
not want the involuntary charge either. Initially

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00:25:45.079 --> 00:25:49.480
they wanted their client found not guilty
on all charges, again a huge gamble

279
00:25:49.640 --> 00:25:56.240
with their client's life. But it
could have gone either way for Texts,

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and really should have. A conviction
on the lesser charge would still have carried

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00:26:00.440 --> 00:26:06.240
prison time. Sure, it's not
life, but for the state, a

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conviction against a prominent and affluent attorney
still would have had an impact and one

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of the most high profile infamous trials
Atlanta had ever seen. Plus he was

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seventy three years old. Chances are
he still could have died in prison even

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00:26:21.680 --> 00:26:26.960
on the lesser charge. But the
DA's gamble worked, and Text was sentenced

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00:26:26.000 --> 00:26:30.480
to life in prison, with an
additional five years for influencing a witness to

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00:26:30.559 --> 00:26:37.440
be served. Concurrently for the weapons
charge, he received a suspended five year

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sentence. Almost immediately, his legal
team began preparing an appeal, filing a

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00:26:45.039 --> 00:26:51.440
motion for a new trial in February
twenty twenty, I'm going to pause now

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00:26:51.559 --> 00:26:59.799
for a final commercial break. When
I released the original episode at ten,

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00:26:59.799 --> 00:27:04.480
tue million dollar wrongful death lawsuit brought
on behalf of Diane's estate, naming both

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00:27:04.559 --> 00:27:11.720
Text and Danny Joe was still on
foot. The suit alleged Danny Joe failed

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00:27:11.720 --> 00:27:15.480
to drive in a safe manner,
focusing on her decision to drive for the

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00:27:15.480 --> 00:27:21.839
hospital and failure to call nine one
one. While there's minimal information available about

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00:27:21.880 --> 00:27:26.880
the outcome, including any impact on
Danny Joe, it appears the suit was

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00:27:26.920 --> 00:27:33.400
confidentially settled with Texas Insurance Company in
March twenty twenty. Over a year later,

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in July twenty twenty one, Judge
McBurney denied Texas request for a new

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trial. Undeterred, the defense took
their case to the Georgia's Supreme Court in

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January twenty twenty two, arguing that
Text did not receive a fair trial for

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00:27:49.720 --> 00:27:56.079
several reasons. One was how conflicted
the jury clearly was when it came to

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the question of accident or murder.
Judge mcburney's decision had meant there was no

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00:28:03.519 --> 00:28:10.160
option for the jury to consider involuntary
manslaughter, so they only had two choices.

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00:28:11.559 --> 00:28:15.240
The defense proposed what the jury should
have been presented with all along the

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00:28:15.319 --> 00:28:22.720
scenario where texs negligently fell asleep with
a loaded gun in his lap. If

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00:28:22.759 --> 00:28:26.519
this had been considered, Text would
have possibly been convicted of the lesser charge

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00:28:26.839 --> 00:28:32.160
instead of being sentenced to life in
prison. The maximum he would have received

307
00:28:32.279 --> 00:28:37.160
would have been twelve months. The
defense also argued that certain evidence at trial

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was prejudicial and therefore inadmissible, especially
that relating to racial bias on Texa's part,

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00:28:45.440 --> 00:28:52.240
as well as the prosecution's speculative portrayal
of him as money hungry. The

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Supreme Court ruled on this as follows
quote. With respect to MacIvor's contentions as

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00:28:59.240 --> 00:29:03.400
to improper argument by the state in
which it was stated or implied that MacIvor

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00:29:03.519 --> 00:29:10.039
harbored racial prejudice, we caution the
state and the trial court to be mindful

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00:29:10.160 --> 00:29:15.079
of the impropriety of such arguments if
there is a retrial. We note,

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00:29:15.119 --> 00:29:19.839
particularly, and with disapproval, the
prosecutor's display of a PowerPoint slide with a

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00:29:19.880 --> 00:29:26.960
bullet point reading KKK. During his
closing argument, the state ultimately acknowledged that

316
00:29:27.039 --> 00:29:33.359
no evidence was produced at trial to
support any inference that the klu klux Klan

317
00:29:33.640 --> 00:29:41.319
was relevant to this case. In
addition, the defense claimed Judge McBurney should

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00:29:41.400 --> 00:29:45.160
not have permitted jurors to examine the
Ford expedition to see how the gun could

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00:29:45.200 --> 00:29:52.119
have discharged. It was a compelling
case for the defense. In June twenty

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00:29:52.200 --> 00:29:57.960
twenty two, the Georgia Supreme Court
unanimously reversed Texas convictions for felony murder and

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00:29:59.039 --> 00:30:03.880
possession of a fire in the commission
of a felony. It was highly critical

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00:30:04.200 --> 00:30:11.160
of the Fulton County DA's office,
particularly flamboyant Prosecutor Clint Rucker and Judge McBurney,

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00:30:11.319 --> 00:30:17.720
in their failure to offer involuntary manslaughter
as an option to the jury.

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00:30:18.079 --> 00:30:22.160
According to Courthouse News, Justice Michael
Boggs wrote in the court's unanimous decision,

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00:30:23.200 --> 00:30:29.039
while the state's evidence was sufficient to
support the appellant's conviction of murder, it

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00:30:29.119 --> 00:30:33.400
also could have supported a finding that
the appellant killed the victim without any intention

327
00:30:33.640 --> 00:30:40.440
of doing so. He added that
any evidence brought by the state pertaining to

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00:30:40.559 --> 00:30:47.279
intent was weak, therefore making proof
of Texas guilt not overwhelming or even strong.

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00:30:48.799 --> 00:30:52.440
The court ruled that any evidence of
intent on Texas part was extremely weak.

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00:30:53.200 --> 00:30:57.559
On the other hand, it found
the evidence supporting his actions as negligent

331
00:30:59.200 --> 00:31:03.160
was much stronger, ruling quote,
the jury could have concluded that the revolver

332
00:31:03.319 --> 00:31:10.160
was discharged as a result of being
startled awake, reflexively or involuntary clutching of

333
00:31:10.200 --> 00:31:17.480
the bag holding the firearm, and
inadvertently contacting the trigger. The DA's office,

334
00:31:17.880 --> 00:31:22.440
again, particularly Clint Rucker, also
came under fire for improper comments at

335
00:31:22.480 --> 00:31:29.960
closing and some of the alleged prejudicial
evidence brought against Texts. With the ball

336
00:31:30.000 --> 00:31:33.160
back in the DA's court, there
was the option for no new charges to

337
00:31:33.200 --> 00:31:38.880
be brought and the case to be
dismissed. Instead, prosecutors doubled down.

338
00:31:41.200 --> 00:31:45.400
In July twenty twenty two, they
announced they would again try Text for felony

339
00:31:45.519 --> 00:31:51.240
murder, aggravated assault with a deadly
weapon, and possession of a firearm during

340
00:31:51.240 --> 00:31:56.319
a felony, but this time involuntary
manslaughter would be on the table for the

341
00:31:56.400 --> 00:32:02.960
jury to consider. Three months later, in October, Texas bond application was

342
00:32:04.000 --> 00:32:07.720
denied again by Judge McBurney, who
felt that the seventy eight year old was

343
00:32:07.759 --> 00:32:14.240
a flight risk. Stated that as
tex was a man of means again facing

344
00:32:14.279 --> 00:32:17.480
life in prison, there was strong
incentive for him to flee the state and

345
00:32:17.599 --> 00:32:24.039
not return. Nor was Judge McBurney
confident Texts would not try to influence witnesses

346
00:32:24.440 --> 00:32:30.279
or stay away from firearms. Part
of texas proposed bond conditions was that he

347
00:32:30.359 --> 00:32:35.039
go live with his sister in Texas
and return to Georgia for the trial.

348
00:32:36.559 --> 00:32:40.480
His attorney's foled a request for a
second bond hearing ahead of the retrial scheduled

349
00:32:40.480 --> 00:32:47.200
for September twenty twenty three. In
February of that year, Text temporarily surrendered

350
00:32:47.319 --> 00:32:52.839
his license to practice law in Georgia, pending the outcome of his trial.

351
00:32:53.000 --> 00:32:59.759
The court accepted texas surrender of his
license in April, but things weren't going

352
00:32:59.759 --> 00:33:05.359
to be as straightforward the next time
around, as the prosecution hoped. Tex

353
00:33:05.440 --> 00:33:09.559
had requested bond on the basis that
he required access to his defense team as

354
00:33:09.559 --> 00:33:16.240
well as medical assistants. Given his
age. His attorney Don Samuel stated Text

355
00:33:16.359 --> 00:33:23.279
was experiencing issues with memory and communication
though there were no issues with competency,

356
00:33:24.000 --> 00:33:30.000
the prosecution pushed for bond to be
denied. In mid November twenty twenty three,

357
00:33:30.519 --> 00:33:36.000
Judge McBurney ruled that eighty year old
Texts would remain in Fulton County Jail

358
00:33:36.240 --> 00:33:42.359
while awaiting his retrial, which was
due to begin in early December. Despite

359
00:33:42.400 --> 00:33:47.000
TeX's age, the judge noted that
he had previously violated his bond for improperly

360
00:33:47.039 --> 00:33:53.480
seeking to influence a key witness,
for which he was convicted on December fourth.

361
00:33:53.880 --> 00:33:59.039
Jury's selection for the second trial got
under way. Text had the same

362
00:33:59.079 --> 00:34:02.480
defense team by hisiameide as he had
since day one, Bruce Harvey, Don

363
00:34:02.519 --> 00:34:08.000
Samuel and Amanda Clark Palmer. But
no sooner had things got going than they

364
00:34:08.039 --> 00:34:15.280
ground to a halt in accordance with
instructions from the Georgia Supreme Court and in

365
00:34:15.360 --> 00:34:20.800
response to emotion and lemony, which
is emotion discussed in the absence of the

366
00:34:20.880 --> 00:34:27.159
jury arguing that evidence be included or
excluded from trial. The prosecution was dealta

367
00:34:27.159 --> 00:34:35.280
blow when Judge McBurney ruled that they
could not present evidence arguing intent to kill.

368
00:34:35.400 --> 00:34:39.199
This was distinct from intent to shoot. Texts had already been acquitted of

369
00:34:39.239 --> 00:34:45.760
malice murder after all. This meant
that key aspects presented as part of the

370
00:34:45.760 --> 00:34:51.320
state's case at the first trial would
now not be heard. The state would

371
00:34:51.320 --> 00:34:55.400
not be able to enter evidence about
Diane's alleged second will unless they could prove

372
00:34:55.519 --> 00:35:02.079
Texts suspected his wife intended to decrease
her husband Ban's entitlements as a beneficiary.

373
00:35:02.760 --> 00:35:08.639
The state would first need to argue
this point without the jury present. Judge

374
00:35:08.679 --> 00:35:15.360
McBurney stated the prosecution's evidence of a
second will at the first trial was not

375
00:35:15.480 --> 00:35:22.039
particularly strong according to the AJC.
The judge stated that the prosecution failed to

376
00:35:22.079 --> 00:35:28.400
demonstrate that Texts knew of any such
second will, nor was the state allowed

377
00:35:28.440 --> 00:35:34.719
to mention George's slayer statute, which
prevents convicted killers from profiting from the estate

378
00:35:34.800 --> 00:35:39.199
of their victim. Among the evidence
the state could bring at retrial was TeX's

379
00:35:39.239 --> 00:35:45.559
behavior at the hospital and his attempts
to both influence witnesses and bribe the then

380
00:35:45.679 --> 00:35:52.400
district Attorney Paul Howard to drop the
charges. The prosecution could also argue that

381
00:35:52.480 --> 00:35:58.639
text shot Diane in order to incapacitate
her as a way to gain control over

382
00:35:58.679 --> 00:36:04.599
her assets. As of attorney.
The defense wanted this argument excluded, but

383
00:36:04.719 --> 00:36:08.800
lost on this point. As for
the speculation that tex was having an affair,

384
00:36:09.360 --> 00:36:15.000
prosecutors would be able to introduce this
evidence in terms of a possible motivation

385
00:36:15.119 --> 00:36:20.679
for the shooting, but texas alleged
infidelity would have to be proven and there

386
00:36:20.840 --> 00:36:25.719
was no proof. The prosecution announced
it would appeal Judge mcburney's decision to the

387
00:36:25.760 --> 00:36:31.599
Supreme Court. Proceedings would again be
delayed, this time until mid to late

388
00:36:31.639 --> 00:36:38.199
twenty twenty four, perhaps even indefinitely. According to the AJAC. Again,

389
00:36:38.679 --> 00:36:45.000
Texas defense team planned on requesting bond
be granted, but late the following month

390
00:36:45.400 --> 00:36:52.119
there was an unexpected development. On
January twenty sixth, twenty twenty four,

391
00:36:52.599 --> 00:36:58.440
eighty one year old tex MacIvor pled
guilty to involuntary manslaughter, reckless conduct,

392
00:36:58.679 --> 00:37:04.039
and possession of a firearms during a
felony. There would be no retrial after

393
00:37:04.119 --> 00:37:07.719
all, as one of the highest
profile legal sagas in the state came to

394
00:37:07.760 --> 00:37:14.719
an end. At sentencing, text
told the court quote, Diane's the best

395
00:37:14.719 --> 00:37:19.280
friend I ever had. She's the
best partner I could possibly imagine, and

396
00:37:19.360 --> 00:37:23.559
I will always always love her.
She died as a result of my actions,

397
00:37:23.760 --> 00:37:28.440
plain and simple. I've worn my
wedding ring since the day we were

398
00:37:28.480 --> 00:37:31.159
married, and I intend to wear
it until the day I die. I

399
00:37:31.199 --> 00:37:36.039
hope we're at a point where we're
not judging each other and we can all

400
00:37:36.079 --> 00:37:42.320
move on. She's my angel and
she's waiting for me in heaven. Others

401
00:37:42.320 --> 00:37:46.840
from Diane's life were also given the
opportunity to speak. Her best friend,

402
00:37:47.320 --> 00:37:52.639
Danny Joe Carter, told the court
her life had all but been destroyed by

403
00:37:52.639 --> 00:37:59.519
Diane's death, saying distress has been
tremendous. I'm just angry. A statement

404
00:37:59.559 --> 00:38:04.199
by Diane Anne's former boss Billy Corey
was also read to the court, saying

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00:38:04.239 --> 00:38:08.719
Diane's death quote was no accident.
One man, one hand and one bullet

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00:38:08.880 --> 00:38:14.239
ended her life and caused a lifetime
of misery and loss for so many others.

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00:38:14.920 --> 00:38:19.239
There will never be another Diane MacIver. Diane was full of life,

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00:38:19.519 --> 00:38:22.840
as she should never have been taken
away from us in such a careless and

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00:38:22.880 --> 00:38:27.360
malicious way. She is today missed
as much as she was on that tragic

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00:38:27.440 --> 00:38:32.880
day. In accordance with Texas plea
deal, he was sentenced to fifteen years

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00:38:32.880 --> 00:38:37.239
in prison, with the last seven
years to be served on probation. He

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00:38:37.320 --> 00:38:44.039
also had to agree to relinquish any
entitlement to any civil settlement arising from Diane's

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00:38:44.079 --> 00:38:50.280
death. With time already served and
his five year sentence for influencing a witness

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00:38:50.400 --> 00:38:54.360
completed, according to Texas attorneys,
he could be paroled prior to the end

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00:38:54.360 --> 00:39:00.920
of his sentence in mid twenty twenty
five. Given that Texas has already served

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00:39:00.000 --> 00:39:06.000
at least six years in prison,
this technically makes him eligible for parole right

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00:39:06.079 --> 00:39:12.559
now. His attorneys told Atlanta News
First that the plea deal was struck to

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00:39:12.599 --> 00:39:15.159
bring an end to something that had
now dragged on into its eighth year,

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00:39:15.559 --> 00:39:21.079
with Don Samuel saying, anyone who
thinks this was a well planned murder,

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00:39:21.519 --> 00:39:25.679
nobody could think that. It makes
no sense to even think that was intentional

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00:39:27.039 --> 00:39:30.639
or malicious. Whether it was reckless, whether you want to define it as

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00:39:30.679 --> 00:39:36.360
gross negligence, or whether it was
just simply an accident, that's debatable.

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00:39:37.440 --> 00:39:44.320
Judge McBurney too seemed satisfied with what
he described as a healthier and cleaner method

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00:39:44.400 --> 00:39:50.719
of resolution that ultimately saved the state
the cost of further proceedings, saying mister

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00:39:50.840 --> 00:39:53.559
mc ivor shouldn't have had that loaded
gun in his hand with his finger on

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00:39:53.599 --> 00:39:59.360
the trigger. For those who seek
purely punishment through this process, you're going

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00:39:59.360 --> 00:40:05.440
to be disappoint According to Atlanta News
First, Text will serve the first five

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00:40:05.519 --> 00:40:09.639
years of his probation under home confinement
with a seven pm to seven am curfew.

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00:40:10.559 --> 00:40:14.960
He is not to have any contact
with Danny, Joe Carter, or

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00:40:15.000 --> 00:40:21.800
Billy Corey. As I explained in
my original episode, I do not believe

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00:40:21.840 --> 00:40:27.639
Text intended to kill his wife.
I agree that much about Texas actions after

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00:40:27.679 --> 00:40:31.440
the fact did not look good whatever
way you try to spin it. He

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00:40:31.519 --> 00:40:36.360
got a lot of bad advice and
made a lot of stupid mistakes, but

434
00:40:36.480 --> 00:40:42.400
that doesn't make him a killer.
I am probably pissing off my Atlanta area

435
00:40:42.480 --> 00:40:49.840
listeners, who I know feel passionately
about this case. Tex mc ivor is

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00:40:49.880 --> 00:40:54.719
not popular there, but I'm sorry. I do believe the justice system finally

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00:40:54.760 --> 00:41:00.320
worked right for this man and for
Diane McIver. I just believe him,

438
00:41:00.880 --> 00:41:07.000
I always have. His story makes
much more sense than a planned murder in

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00:41:07.119 --> 00:41:13.039
his car in front of Diane's best
friend. After my original episode aired,

440
00:41:13.480 --> 00:41:16.320
Text found out about Southern Fried and
his lawyer asked for a transcript of the

441
00:41:16.360 --> 00:41:21.360
episode so Text could read it in
prison, since he was not allowed to

442
00:41:21.400 --> 00:41:25.199
listen to the podcast. Hopefully he
will be able to listen to this update

443
00:41:25.320 --> 00:41:30.920
soon. It's not clear exactly when
Text will be released on parole, but

444
00:41:31.000 --> 00:41:36.119
it seems it could literally be any
day, and when he is, we

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00:41:36.199 --> 00:41:39.440
can only hope that, having done
his time, he can continue processing his

446
00:41:39.559 --> 00:41:52.599
grief for his wife Diane and honoring
her memory. Southern Fried True Crime is

447
00:41:52.639 --> 00:41:58.400
hosted and produced by me Erica Kelly. Today's episode was researched and written by

448
00:41:58.400 --> 00:42:02.159
me and Jimma Harris. As usual, any editorial comments and opinions are my

449
00:42:02.239 --> 00:42:07.480
own. Southern Fred's original music is
by Rob Harrison of Gamma Radio and the

450
00:42:07.519 --> 00:42:12.119
original graphic art is by Kohley Horner. Today's episode was edited and mixed by

451
00:42:12.119 --> 00:42:15.360
Brandon schck Snyder of Southern Gothic and
Erica Kelly. If you have any case

452
00:42:15.400 --> 00:42:20.920
suggestions, please go to my website, Southernfred Truecrime dot com and click on

453
00:42:20.960 --> 00:42:27.360
the listener's suggestion tab, or email
SFTC Research at gmail dot com. This

454
00:42:27.519 --> 00:42:30.960
is the best way for me to
get those little known cases, y'all always

455
00:42:30.000 --> 00:42:35.679
send me. Please remember that I
do not accept suggestions on social media private

456
00:42:35.719 --> 00:42:39.320
messages, but please come join our
Facebook group, Southern Fried True Crime Fans

457
00:42:39.400 --> 00:42:45.079
Discussion Group, where we swap recipes, worship Dolly Parton, and share means.

458
00:42:45.320 --> 00:42:47.639
We do, of course discuss true
crime, not just Southern fraud,

459
00:42:47.800 --> 00:42:52.679
but all kinds, but it is
still very much a Southern lifestyle group.

460
00:42:52.159 --> 00:42:54.960
Our group is a safe and fun
corner of Facebook, and by God,

461
00:42:55.000 --> 00:42:59.159
we mean it when we say no
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462
00:42:59.199 --> 00:43:01.719
a motto, it's how we run
the group. If you enjoy today's show,

463
00:43:02.039 --> 00:43:06.679
don't forget to subscribe and please tell
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464
00:43:07.119 --> 00:43:10.840
I'm also on all large platforms like
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465
00:43:10.920 --> 00:43:16.960
Audible and YouTube. Until next time, thanks so much for listening. Y'all

466
00:43:16.960 --> 00:43:17.440
Take care,