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The Queen (aka "mrsmuir") SWBB
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Split Verdict in Tex McIver Murder Trial Rattles Defense Bar
Lawyers took to social media to decry the verdict as inconsistent in acquitting former Fisher & Phillips partner Tex McIver of malice murder but convicting him of felony murder.
"A Fulton County jurys decision to acquit Atlanta attorney Claud Tex McIver of malice murder but convict him of felony murder has put Atlantas criminal defense bar on edge.
On Facebook and Twitter and in guest television appearances, criminal defense lawyers, civil litigators and the occasional former prosecutor have decried the former Fisher & Phillips partners murder conviction as inconsistent, repugnant or simply crap. The jury convicted McIver of murder for shooting and killing his wife, Diane....
Pate said that, during McIvers trial, No one contended he intended to hurt her but did not intend to kill herthe conclusion he and other lawyers insist is the only way to interpret the jurys decision to pair a malice murder acquittal with aggravated assault and felony murder convictions.
The real problem is for people like me who see a verdict like this, Pate said. Lawyers dont like this verdict. [But] they realize its almost unappealable.
McIvers defense team, Pate continued, included two of the states best criminal defense attorneysDon Samuel and Bruce Harveyand one of the smartest judges.
It was more or less a clean trial, he concluded. They are not going to like me saying that....
The Tex McIver verdict astounds me, defense attorney Ashleigh Merchant posted on her Facebook page. How exactly could he not intend to kill her but instead intend to shoot her?
Samuel said theres no way to reconcile the verdict with the case he tried.
It is conceivable you could have an acquittal on malice murder and a conviction on felony murder and aggravated assault, he said. But that scenario, he explained, would require a jury to conclude that McIver intended to shoot his wife but did not intend to kill her.
Thats the only way to reconcile the two verdicts, Samuel said. I dont think anybody thinks there was a good factual basis to reach these verdicts.
The jury just compromised, he said.
Internally inconsistent jury verdicts are permissible in Georgia. I would not say its never an appealable issue, Samuel said. The case law is not great at this point.
However, he added, It is certainly a basis to seek a new trial in front of a judge, which is a different standing than appealing and seeking a reversal...."
https://www.law.com/dailyreportonli...-trial-rattles-defense-bar/?cmp=share_twitter
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Lawyers took to social media to decry the verdict as inconsistent in acquitting former Fisher & Phillips partner Tex McIver of malice murder but convicting him of felony murder.
"A Fulton County jurys decision to acquit Atlanta attorney Claud Tex McIver of malice murder but convict him of felony murder has put Atlantas criminal defense bar on edge.
On Facebook and Twitter and in guest television appearances, criminal defense lawyers, civil litigators and the occasional former prosecutor have decried the former Fisher & Phillips partners murder conviction as inconsistent, repugnant or simply crap. The jury convicted McIver of murder for shooting and killing his wife, Diane....
Pate said that, during McIvers trial, No one contended he intended to hurt her but did not intend to kill herthe conclusion he and other lawyers insist is the only way to interpret the jurys decision to pair a malice murder acquittal with aggravated assault and felony murder convictions.
The real problem is for people like me who see a verdict like this, Pate said. Lawyers dont like this verdict. [But] they realize its almost unappealable.
McIvers defense team, Pate continued, included two of the states best criminal defense attorneysDon Samuel and Bruce Harveyand one of the smartest judges.
It was more or less a clean trial, he concluded. They are not going to like me saying that....
The Tex McIver verdict astounds me, defense attorney Ashleigh Merchant posted on her Facebook page. How exactly could he not intend to kill her but instead intend to shoot her?
Samuel said theres no way to reconcile the verdict with the case he tried.
It is conceivable you could have an acquittal on malice murder and a conviction on felony murder and aggravated assault, he said. But that scenario, he explained, would require a jury to conclude that McIver intended to shoot his wife but did not intend to kill her.
Thats the only way to reconcile the two verdicts, Samuel said. I dont think anybody thinks there was a good factual basis to reach these verdicts.
The jury just compromised, he said.
Internally inconsistent jury verdicts are permissible in Georgia. I would not say its never an appealable issue, Samuel said. The case law is not great at this point.
However, he added, It is certainly a basis to seek a new trial in front of a judge, which is a different standing than appealing and seeking a reversal...."
https://www.law.com/dailyreportonli...-trial-rattles-defense-bar/?cmp=share_twitter
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