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A South Carolina judge allowed an execution to move forward after ruling that the man’s beliefs, including that most laws are unconstitutional and citizens have an absolute right to defend their property to death, do not prove he is mentally incompetent.
Steven Bixby, 58, was set to die in May for the 2003 killings of two police officers before the state Supreme Court stopped his execution in order to determine his mental competency. A lower court was asked to evaluate if his beliefs about the legal system meant his lawyers were unable to defend him.
The latest ruling, issued by Judge R. Scott Sprouse, gives the execution the green light, at least for now. Addressing concerns about the ability of Bixby’s lawyers to defend him, Scott said their client cooperates with his legal team and the psychiatrists who treat and question him.
The judge wrote that 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.”
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Steven Bixby, 58, was sentenced to death when he was convicted in the 2003 killings of two police officers. (South Carolina Department of Corrections via AP)
Bixby’s lawyers can ask to appeal the ruling.
He said recently in a handwritten motion to the court that judges who rule against him are guided by Satan and suggested that the judge would commit treason if he failed to stop his execution and free him from custody, according to The Associated Press. A psychologist also previously said Bixby understands what led to his death sentence, but that he believes blood found on his clothes the night of the killings contains the DNA of Jesus Christ.
“I am an innocent man!! Let freedom ring & let those committing treason swing!!! Like Thomas Jefferson: I am standing on principle even if I stand alone,” Bixby wrote in the motion, via The AP.
In December 2003, Bixby shot Abbeville County deputy Danny Wilson as the officer knocked on the front door of his parents’ home, a day after they threatened the road crew, according to officials.
Wilson’s dying body was pulled inside the home by the family and restrained with his own handcuffs. The Bixbys then killed state Constable Donnie Ouzts as he and other officers responded to the home because Wilson had been missing for an hour, leading to a 12-hour standoff as officers and the family fired hundreds of shots at each other, investigators said.
Bixby’s parents were also charged with murder but have since died.
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A judge ruled that Steven Bixby’s beliefs, including that most laws are unconstitutional, do not prove he is mentally incompetent. (AP)
In his motion to the court, Bixby reaffirmed his long-held belief that his family was justified in killing Wilson because the deputy was attempting to help take their land.
The handwritten motion came after the judge held a hearing last month to determine if Bixby was mentally competent for execution.
At the hearing, lawyers for Bixby said that he is convinced the U.S. legal system is unconstitutional and wrong, and refuses to share information needed to help him avoid execution. Prosecutors contended that Bixby’s beliefs are shared by others and that he understands why the state wants to end his life.
An expert called by Bixby’s lawyers said the isolation of prison has only made his beliefs more delusional and that Bixby is stuck in his mindset.
The judge said Steven Bixby cooperates with his legal team and the psychiatrists who treat and question him. (AP Photo/Mary Ann Chastain)
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The judge highlighted that two of the experts called by the state have been dealing with Bixby since shortly after the killings and that while Bixby has previously been angry with their testimony about his mental state, he understands they need to do their job.
The state’s experts testified that Bixby is not going to abandon his beliefs about the legal system and that he views himself in some ways as a martyr prepared to die for his beliefs if his appeals fail. They said Bixby believes he will see his parents again in heaven.
The psychiatrist who sees and treats death row inmates in South Carolina said Bixby described his mental state to him as: “I’m not crazy. I’m not a mental health case. I may be an [expletive], but I’m not crazy.”
Bixby was out of regular appeals when the state Supreme Court halted his execution in March.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.