Update on "Abbeville Horror" Case (Steven Bixby)

[ElfNinosMom]

Motions, appeals awaiting decisions in Bixby case


March 29, 2007

By CHRIS TRAINOR
Index-Journal staff writer

The waiting game continues — this time outside a courtroom.

After filing two post-trial motions, the defense team of convicted murderer Steven Vernon Bixby awaits a decision from 10th Judicial Circuit Judge Alexander S. Macaulay. A Chesterfield County jury’s guilty verdict and sentence recommendation of death was returned last month following a weeklong trial for the murders of law officers Sgt. Danny Wilson and Constable Donnie Ouzts in 2003.

Macaulay scheduled Bixby’s execution for April 22. Each motion was filed within 10 days following February’s trial.

Meanwhile, attorneys for the state continue to look for a decision of their own — this time from the state Supreme Court.

Bixby’s mother, Rita Bixby, and father, Arthur Bixby, are still awaiting trial for their roles in the events leading to and those taking place just off Highway 72 in Abbeville on Dec. 8, 2003.

Here is where each of the cases stands today:

Steven Vernon Bixby — The defense team drafts two motions following the trial, one for a new trial and another for the dismissal of his conviction and sentence. After being filed within 10 days following the double-murder trial, they remain under review by 10th Circuit Court Judge Alexander S. Macaulay.

Steven Bixby is currently being held at the Lieber Correctional Institute, which houses South Carolina’s death-row inmates.

Should Macaulay rule against the defense, Steven Bixby’s attorneys will have 30 days to appeal, but the case (as are all death penalty cases) will still be reviewed by the S.C. Supreme Court on an automatic appeal.

Rita Bixby — A death penalty notice served by the state on Steven Vernon Bixby’s mother, Rita Bixby, was quashed by 10th Circuit Court Judge Alexander S. Macaulay. The state has since appealed that decision and awaits a ruling by the S.C. Supreme Court. Once the high court issues its decision, a trial date will likely be set for the Bixby matriarch, who is being held at the Greenwood County Detention Center.

Arthur Bixby — Steven Vernon Bixby’s father, Arthur Bixby, is said to be in ailing health at the Laurens County Detention Center. His trial is third in line for prosecution behind that of his son’s and wife’s. There are no appeals or motions currently filed in his case, as a trial date has not been set and no death penalty notice yet served on him.