Posted on 02/15/2007 7:35:54 AM PST by 300magnum
Testimony is going quickly in the trial of a man accused in the deaths of two lawmen.
Five witnesses testified before the lunch break on Wednesday, and more than a dozen more testified in the afternoon in the trial of Steven Bixby. As many as 70 people could take the stand during the trial.
Bixby, 39, is on trial in Abbeville in the deaths of Constable Donnie Ouzts and Sgt. Danny Wilson. Steven Bixby and his father, Arthur Bixby, are charged with murder. His mother, Rita Bixby, was charged as an accessory. Authorities said that she knew her family planned to harm officers but was not home at the time.
Prosecutors say Wilson was shot when he went to talk to the Bixbys about the state's need to take some land to widen the road. They say Ouzts was killed when he went to check on Wilson.
Members of both Wilson's and Ouzts's families are attending the trial. Before opening statements, Wilson's sister, Marilyn Scott, began to cry while looking at Bixby.
No one is sitting in the row reserved for Bixby's family.
WYFF News 4's Kisha Foster is in court reporting on the proceedings, and she said that Steven Bixby was very attentive throughout the questioning Wednesday.
Steven Bixby is the first of the three to be tried in the case. On Wednesday, the judge limited information to the indictments against Steven Bixby, so the jury heard the charges against him of conspiracy, kidnapping, two counts of murder and possession of a firearm during the commission of a crime.
Drew McCaffrey is a South Carolina Department of Transportation worker. He described his first encounter with the Bixbys during his testimony. McCaffrey said he and his crew were trying to lay down a storm drain in front of the Bixby home and that's when the family became upset, two days before Ouzts and Wilson were shot and killed. Investigators said that the family was upset over the widening of Highway 72 in front of their home.
McCaffrey said, "Steven Bixby repeated threats that he would protect his property to the last breath -- that there would be hell to pay."
When asked if he thought there were threats that he could be shot or otherwise harmed, McCaffrey answered, "I felt like there were threats to harm."
SCDOT worker Dale Williams also testified that the Bixbys interfered with workers trying to install the storm drain. When the DOT produced paperwork showing that it had the right to use the easement since 1960, workers said that the Bixbys didn't want to see the paperwork and called it "lies."
Williams said, "I told him (Steven) that we would have to get the sheriff involved, and he said it didn't matter, he'd kill him too if he trespassed."
Testifying about the morning the men were killed, Williams said, "I saw Steven Bixby standing behind the store door in camouflage pistol in right hand long gun in left hand at that moment I knew the officer was in trouble. The car was still there," Williams said.
Wednesday afternoon, former Abbeville County Sheriff's Lt. Deborah Graham also testified about the day that Wilson and Ouzts were killed outside the Bixby's home.
Graham said that she was the second officer on the scene. Ouzts was the third.
Graham testified that when Ouzts pulled up to the Bixby's home, she told him a 911 call had come in saying that Wilson had been shot.
Dr. Darren Lewis, another person who was on scene the morning of the shootings, said, "I said, 'Donnie, don't go up there. He's got a gun.' He never looked at me. Obviously, he didn't hear me."
Graham said as Ouzts was about to go toward the house she told him, "No, wait for backup."
Graham, who fought back tears, said, "Donnie fell. There was a grunt. And I ran and got into my patrol car."
As she testified, members of Ouzts's family began to cry.
Well. It's a tragedy that two officers were killed. And it's a tragedy that the legal owners of property aren't allowed to protect that property from the state. If America were a free country, such violent encounters between the state and the people would not happen.
Looks like several people warned the constable when he arrived, and he ignored the warnings.
Does anybody know that this is an international forum?
Do we need a license to use the keywords feature?
Is it that hard to include the freakin' location?
Yes, I could use the link and start following the location thread, together with each of the other 20,000 or so regular readers, but I won't.
Lessee... what makes sense? The poster volunteers the location? or thousands waste their time trying to so so?
Tough call!
According to the article, I'm guessing South Carolina.
Most propertys alongside a public highway and even the streets in town have an easement which the state or city may use when the roadway is widened. Many people aren't aware of it when they buy, but it is legal. When there is no such easement, the state or city negotiates with the landowner to purchase it.
Does anybody know that this is an international forum? Do we need a license to use the keywords feature?
Is it that hard to include the freakin' location? Yes, I could use the link and start following the location thread, together with each of the other 20,000 or so regular readers, but I won't.
Lessee... what makes sense? The poster volunteers the location? or thousands waste their time trying to so so?
Tough call!
Drew McCaffrey is a South Carolina Department of Transportation worker.
I guess I should assume it's too much trouble for you to read the article. ;-)
Two officers killed over a storm drain. Why did this landowner need to protect his propery over a storm drain?
If the state was taking the land for development, that is one thing
I have no doubt if there was a flood, this same landowner would say the state didn't do enough to fix the drainage problems in the area.
Heck if this family doesn't believe in easements, the state should stop all state and federal services to them like the mail. We don't want the state to trespass.
Perhaps property owners should check and make sure they are aware of any easements attached to any property they purchase.
Shooting cops over a highway widening is the mark of a mentally unstable moron.
A law enforcement chief took the stand Thursday morning in the trial of Steven Bixby, giving compelling testimony about the day two lawmen were gunned down.
WYFF News 4's Kisha Foster is in court providing up-to-the-minute reports on the proceedings.
South Carolina Law Enforcement Division Chief Robert Stewart testified about the support SLED provided to the the Abbeville Sheriff's Office during the standoff in December 2003.
Stewart said that there were at least 50 SLED agents plus FBI agents, the Greenwood Tactical Team and state patrol officers -- approximately 150 officers total.
Stewart said because of the high-powered weaponry used by the Bixbys on that day, an armored car and three robots with cameras were used to survey the Bixby house.
One of the remote-controlled robots captured an image of Sgt. Danny Wilson dead on the floor, with his hands cuffed behind his back.
Stewart said that the Bixbys were using 30.06 and 7 mm. weapons. He said that Bixby also had an AR-15, a rifle similar to the M-16 automatic rifle used by the military.
He described the heavy exchange of gunfire, saying, "I've seen my share of shootings. This had to be the worst because of the situation and the gunfire and the kinds of weapons used against us."
Thursday afternoon, SLED agent/SWAT member Marion Baker described the intense gunfire with the Bixbys and the use of tear gas to try to get them out of the house.
Nearly two dozen witnesses have already taken the stand since the trial began Wednesday morning.
Bixby, 39, is on trial in Abbeville in the deaths of and Wilson Constable Donnie Ouzts. Steven Bixby and his father, Arthur Bixby, are charged with murder. His mother, Rita Bixby, was charged as an accessory. Authorities said that she knew her family planned to harm officers but was not home at the time.
Prosecutors say Wilson was shot when he went to talk to the Bixbys about the state's need to take some land to widen the road. They say Ouzts was killed when he went to check on Wilson.
"Wilson was shot when he went to talk to the Bixbys about the state's need to take some land..."
Yep. It was legal. There is no doubt in my mind that when the state went over to this family, and told them that their property was going to be seized for the public good, i.e. to widen the road, that the state had the law on it's side.
The presence of those 150 various police/federal agents would be another clue.
The Bixby family unlawfully killed two police officers, who were there to lawfully confiscate their property. They committed murder, under the definition of the law.
The state didn't commit theft, under the definition of the law. They didn't commit armed robbery, under the definition of the law.
It's amazing how you can make things look, when you control the law.
You can use eminent domain to take property from one private citizen, and sell it to another private citizen, if you think it'll increase your tax base.
That's legal. It's enforceable at the point of a gun. Resistance is futile, when the law is on the side of the takers, and against the protectors.
Oh, spare me. It's not as if they just made this up. It's been in the property records base for over 45 years, and this guy just now figured it out?
Sorry, but violent armed disputes over a few feet of land is not the mark of a patriot or someone we should emulate. He's a nutcase, plain and simple.
Day 2 Of Bixby Trial Details Standoff
Prior to the playing of the tape, South Carolina Law Enforcement Division Chief Robert Stewart took the stand on Thursday morning.
Stewart testified about the support SLED provided to the Abbeville Sheriff's Office during the standoff in December 2003.
Stewart said that there were at least 50 SLED agents plus FBI agents, the Greenwood Tactical Team and state patrol officers -- about 150 officers total.
Stewart said that because of the high-powered weaponry used by the Bixbys on that day, an armored car and three robots with cameras were used to survey the Bixby house.
One of the remote-controlled robots captured an image of Sgt. Danny Wilson dead on the floor, with his hands cuffed behind his back.
Stewart said that the Bixbys were using 30.06 and 7 mm weapons. He said that Bixby also had an AR-15, a rifle similar to the M-16 automatic rifle used by the military.
He described the heavy exchange of gunfire, saying, "I've seen my share of shootings. This had to be the worst because of the situation and the gunfire and the kinds of weapons used against us."
Stewart said, "We couldn't move. We were being fired upon from the house. We could not see who was firing upon us. With heavy weapons like that, you may get shot at two or three times and you may shoot back 200 times to try to get them to stop shooting at you. Whatever it takes to get it to stop."
SLED agent Keith Johnson said, "I could see muzzle flashes coming from the proximity of the mantle. It struck me then he was using the mantle for cover. Nothing could shoot through it."
During the standoff, SLED had gotten a wire tap for the Bixby's home phone line so they could monitor any call coming in or out of the home. Somehow, the phone was knocked of the hook, making it possible for police to record the activity in the house.
Thursday afternoon, Bixby seemed very uncomfortable and started writing notes as the audio tape played with the sounds of intense gunfire.
At that point, a member of the Wilson family became very upset. Judge Alec Macauley stopped the trial briefly and said those in court would have to control their emotions, or they would have to leave.
SLED agent/SWAT member Marion Baker testified about trying to get Wilson out of the home.
"(He was) laying facedown, feet toward the door, handcuffed behind his back. I provided cover for agents that were removing him and when they told us they had gotten him out, we proceeded to back out," Baker said.
Nearly two dozen witnesses have already taken the stand since the trial began Wednesday morning.
Bixby, 39, is on trial in Abbeville in the deaths of and Wilson Constable Donnie Ouzts. Steven Bixby and his father, Arthur Bixby, are charged with murder. His mother, Rita Bixby, was charged as an accessory. Authorities said that she knew her family planned to harm officers but was not home at the time.
Prosecutors say Wilson was shot when he went to talk to the Bixbys about the state's need to take some land to widen the road. They say Ouzts was killed when he went to check on Wilson.
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