About Lake Oconee news. (Greensboro, GA) 199?-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 1, 2017)
Page A12 Lake Oconee News G Friday, December 1,2017 Mdver Continued from A1 Samuel is a partner with Garland, Samuel & Loeb Atlanta Trial Attorneys. Among many awards and accomplishments, his lengthy biography on the law firm’s website includes that he was ranked Lawyer of the Year in the State of Georgia by Best Lawyers in America in 2014. His 34-year career includes many cases in fed eral courts around the coun try, several notable cases in Georgia that laterwere made into books and movies and quite a few appellate court cases in which the outcome was successfully reversed. Mdver, who lived in Putnam County part-time until his confinement in jail, was charged with the Sept. 26, 2016, murder of his wife, Diane. The couple Fires Continued from A1 unattended cooking. The scenewasclearedby9:30p.m. According to Madison Fire Marshall Gene Porter, firefighters first had to make sure no one was in the house after being told by one of the residents might stillbe inside. As it turned out, one of the people renting the home had was ridingwith afriendfrom their Pea Ridge Road ranch in Putnam County to their condominium in Buckhead, when a gun Mclver was holding reportedly fired and hit Diane in the back. She succumbed to her injuries later that night at Emory University Hospital. Mclver has never denied the shooting, but maintains it was accidental. After an investigation, the Atlanta Police Department took out a manslaughter warrant, according to a transcript from a previous court hear ing. But the Fulton County District Attorney’s office said it had other evidence and took the case before a Grand Jury, which indicted Mclver on charges of murder, felony murder, aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, pos session of a firearm during the commission of a felony and other charges. He turned himself in Dec. been burned as the result a car fire prior to the incident and that led some residents of the area to believe he had been burned in this fire. The husband and wife renting the home were not at home at the time of the fire. A family member who was inside when the fire started apparently left the scene. The fire actually rekindled thenext night, and firefighters were once again dispatched. Firefighters had already Claude "Tex" Mclver 21, 2016. His first bond was revoked in Apr il when a handgun was found in a sock drawer of his condominium, and he has been in jail ever since. On Oct. 18, Fulton County Superior Court Judge Robert McBurney granted Mclver a $750,000 bond. Although his family is able to pay the bond, they have been unable to meet other certain conditions of it and Mclver been the neighborhood the day before, according to Porter, to put out a fire that started in the bedroom of a home on Overlook Drive. Porter said the likely cause of that fire was electrical in nature, possibly overloaded extension chords. Porter warned that over loaded extension cords are a common problem during the holiday andcautioned against plugging too many things into them. remained in jail as of The Messenger’s press time, according to Sills. Sills said one of the bond requirements is that Mclver may no longer speak to Sills. The two are close friends, and Mclver had been calling Sills regularly up until then. Their inability to communi cate with each other makes no sense to the sheriff, he said. “Because in Putnam County, if one is granted a bond but doesn’t actu ally get out of jail, then he is not required to uphold the requirements of said bond. But evidently they do things differently in Fulton County,” Sills said. Thelocal sheriff continues to talk with Mclver’s other family members, he said. Attempts to reach Samuel by phone were unsuccessful by press time. The trial is set to begin March 5, 2018. “Just because you can, doesn’t mean you should,” Porter said, noting that an extension cord with six outlets on it doesn’t mean that its safe to use all of them. Still another fire broke out on Sunday at the Quick Shop convenience story between Confederate Road and Highway 278 heading toward Rutledge. According to Porter, the cause of that fire was grease used to cook chicken. Deputy Continued from A1 autopsywastobeperformed by the medical examiner’s office in Decatur. “We still consider this an ongoing investigation and have no comment,” said Wooten. “When we’ve completed our investigation, it will be turned over to the Greene County District Attorney’s Office.” Chief Assistant District Attorney Alley Mauldin is slated to handle the case in Greene County. The incident occurred during a traffic stop in the Woodville community, whichisneartheOglethorpe County line, adjacent to a convenience store on the night Hurricane Harvey made landfall around 9 p.m. Easley was examined for injuries sustained in the altercation at an undis closed hospital in Athens. Robinson allegedly fled the scene on foot and was pursued by Easley for some 200 yards before the inci dent occurred. Easleyremainsonadmin- istrative leave, according to Greene County Sheriff Donnie Harrison. “We don’t want to com ment about the case right now while it’s still an ongo ing investigation,” said Harrison. “When they use forensics to investigate, it just takes time for the science to be completed. We have to wait for the GBI to finish the lab work and its investigation.” Robinson had been in and out of prison since the late 90s. According to the Georgia DepartmentofCorrections, Robinson enteredthepenal system in 1998 when he was sentenced to five years confinement for theft by receiving stolen property. Robinson was later sen tenced to 10 years for the same offense in 2000. In 2003, Robinson was sentenced to 24 months for entering an auto in Richmond County. On April 28, 2012, Robinson was convicted of criminal interference of government property, disorderly conduct and obstruction of a law officer in Greene County. He was given two 12-month sentences and a five-year sentence to serve concurrently. Finally, Robinson was sentenced to three years for making terroristic threats and acts in 2014. According to the GBI report, Robinson admitted to Easley atthe scene he was driving without a license. When Easley attempted to arrest him, a scuffle broke out and Robinson fled the scene. 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