Judge clears way for execution of South Carolina inmate who thinks most laws are unconstitutional

COLUMBIA S C AP A judge in South Carolina has ruled a death row inmate s beliefs that largest part laws are unconstitutional and citizens have an absolute right to defend their property to the death are not proof he is mentally incompetent and should be executed The ruling clears the way for now for Steven Bixby to be put to death for the killings of two police officers who came to his family s Abbeville home to discuss a dispute between them and a construction crew that had come to widen the road Bixby s lawyers can ask to appeal the ruling The state Supreme Court had stopped Bixby s execution weeks before it could be scheduled and solicited a lower court to decide if his beliefs about the legal system kept him from helping his lawyers as they appeal his death sentence Judge notes Bixby helps his lawyers Judge R Scott Sprouse noted in his ruling dated late last week that Bixby cooperates with his lawyers and the psychiatrists treating and questioning him While Bixby has often disagreed with counsel and expresses distrust regarding their strategy in this proceeding the evidence demonstrates that he understands their role the rationale for why they are engaging in this competency proceeding and that he can choose whether or not to cooperate with them Sprouse wrote Bixby family killed officers then shot hundreds of bullets in standoff Bixby shot Abbeville County deputy Danny Wilson as the officer knocked on the front door of his parents home in December a day after they threatened the road crew leadership reported They dragged Wilson s dying body inside and restrained him with his own handcuffs Then they killed state Constable Donnie Ouzts as he and other officers rushed to the home after realizing Wilson had been missing for about an hour That led to a -hour standoff as officers and the Bixbys fired hundreds of bullets at each other investigators commented Bixby s parents were also charged with murder but died behind bars Experts at hearing declared Bixby stands firm on his beliefs The judge held a hearing last month to determine if Bixby was competent Both sides had experts testify One called by Bixby s lawyers mentioned the isolation of prison has only made his beliefs worse and that Bixby is stuck in a mindset that never grew But the judge put more weight with the ones called by the state noting two of them have been dealing with Bixby since shortly after the killings and while Bixby has been angry with their testimony about his mental state before he understands they have a job to do Those experts testified Bixby isn t going to give up his beliefs about the law and the Constitution and he is ready to die as a martyr if his appeals fail They noted Bixby thinks he will be reunited with his parents in heaven The psychiatrist who sees and treats death row inmates in South Carolina noted Bixby summed up his mental state to him as I m not crazy I m not a mental vitality matter I may be an expletive but I m not crazy Bixby sends his own motion to the judge After the hearing Bibxy sent his own handwritten motion to the judge He reiterated his long held belief that his family was justified killing Wilson because the deputy was trying to help take their land He also suggested the judge would commit treason if he does not stop his execution and set him free I am an innocent man Let freedom ring let those committing treason swing Bixby wrote Like Thomas Jefferson I am standing on principle even if I stand alone Source