As a judge considers arguments from prosecutors and defense attorneys over whether delusional beliefs about the legal system are enough to keep a South Carolina prisoner from being executed, the inmate himself decided to weigh in with his own handwritten legal papers.
Just weeks before Steven Bixby was set to die earlier this year, the state Supreme Court stopped his execution and asked a lower court to evaluate if his lawyers are unable to defend him because of beliefs Bixby holds, like that most laws are unconstitutional, that citizens have an absolute right to defend their property to the death and that judges who rule against him are guided by Satan.
Bixby, 58, was convicted of the 2003 killing of two police officers who came to his Abbeville home to discuss a dispute between the family and a construction crew that had come to widen the road.
His parents were also charged with murder and have since died, but Bixby remains on death row.
Bixby’s lawyers argued at a hearing last month that he’s so convinced the current US legal system is unconstitutional and wrong, he refuses to share information they need to help him avoid the death chamber.
Prosecutors countered that Bixby’s anti-government beliefs are not his own individual delusions and are shared by others, and that he understands very well why the state wants to put him to death.
Bixby spoke at his hearing but had more to say later
The late August hearing ended with Circuit Judge R. Scott Sprouse giving Bixby ten minutes to speak and promising a ruling in 30 days. But Bixby wasn’t done.
A little over a week later, Bixby’s handwritten motion was submitted, with dozens of phrases like “miscarriage of justice,” “law demands” and “reversal of conviction” underlined.
“Judge Sprouse gave me 10 minutes to address the court. Thanks!” Bixby wrote sarcastically, asserting that the state constitution allows someone accused of a crime to be fully heard either on their own or through their lawyer.
“The unconstitutional shrinks were given unlimited psychobabble time to their subjective, unsubstantiated conjecture of theories not based on facts!” Bixby wrote.
The court called a halt as his execution neared
Bixby was out of regular appeals and weeks away from an execution date when the Supreme Court stepped in with a 3-2 ruling in March.
The justices said that while Bixby would be considered competent to be executed under federal law because he can link his crime and punishment and knows why he faces the death penalty, state law requires an additional finding that condemned inmates be able to rationally communicate with their attorneys.
Both sides presented experts at last month’s hearing.
One called by Bixby’s lawyers said the isolation of prison has only made his beliefs worse and that Bixby is stuck in a mindset that never grew.
An expert for the state said that while his might make him a difficult client, it doesn’t make Bixby impossible to defend, and he views himself in some ways as a martyr ready to die for what he believes.
Bixby’s motion uses legal phrases but provide no reasoning accepted by judges before.
“I’ve proven & the prosecution has admitted through the omission & admission under rule 24a & 55.2 of the charges against them since 12/05/03 (to whom it may concern letter) the Bixbys ‘total innocence.’ Set me free!” he writes.
Bixby convicted of killing two officers before huge gunfight
Bixby shot Abbeville County deputy Danny Wilson as the officer knocked on the front door of his parents’ home in December 2003, a day after they threatened the road crew, authorities said.
They dragged Wilson’s dying body inside and restrained him with his own handcuffs. Then they killed state Constable Donnie Ouzts as he as other officers rushed to the home after realizing Wilson had been missing for an hour.
That led to a 12-hour standoff as officers and the Bixbys fired hundreds of bullets at each other, investigators said.
Bixby blames officer for creating his legal mess
At the August hearing, Bixby spent part of his speaking time saying Wilson was killed because he was trying to take the family’s land.
“I’m just tired of this tragedy. This is all over them wanting to steal my parents’ property,” Bixby said.
In his motion to the court, Bixby suggested the judge would commit treason if he doesn’t 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.”
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