Judge allows Tex McIver jurors to take gun to SUV where shooting happened

ATLANTA — Jury deliberations in the Tex McIver murder trial continued Thursday.

McIver, an Atlanta attorney, is accused of intentionally killing his wife, Diane, as they rode in their SUV in Sept. 2016. McIver claims the shooting was an accident.

On Thursday, jurors were given the opportunity to view the SUV, where the shooting happened, for a second time. This time, they were able to take Tex McIver’s gun with them.

Stay with Channel 2 Action News and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution for live coverage of the verdict in the Tex McIver murder trial. We will stream it live on WSBTV.com and the WSB-TV Facebook page once a decision is reached.

Visit our Tex McIver murder trial special section for a look back at the case, including a live blog from the courtroom, daily video recaps, an interactive timeline and much more. 

But before that could happen, both sides had quite the debate.

“First of all, the jury has already been allowed to get in the car. The jury’s been allowed to handle the gun. The jury’s simply asking to put the two pieces of evidence together,” prosecutor Donald Wakeford said.

Defense attorney’s heartily objected.

“A jury view in Georgia is not evidence. It's not evidence,” Bruce Harvey said.

Harvey pointed out that the state never admitted the SUV into evidence, and said they had concerns about the setup inside the SUV.

Despite the objections, Judge Robert McBurney admitted the SUV for the state and then gave jurors the green light to reinspect the gun and take it into the car.

To that, defense attorneys objected about a deputy overseeing the deliberations.

"The law is absolutely clear. There should be nobody in the deliberation room wherever that deliberation room is, even if it becomes the basement of the courthouse,” attorney Don Samuel said.

Jurors left for the day Thursday without reaching a verdict. They will return on Friday at 9 a.m.

Cox Media Group