COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) -- Lawyers for a man facing the death penalty for killing two police officers over a land dispute with South Carolina highway officials are appealing his conviction to the state's highest court.
Supreme Court justices will hear 42-year-old Steven Bixby's appeal Wednesday.
Authorities say Bixby and his parents became angry in December 2003 after highway workers put survey stakes in their yard as they began a widening project.
Prosecutors say Bixby and his father ambushed an officer sent to talk to them the next day, then killed a second officer who came to check on the deputy.
Bixby's father was found not competent to stand trial and has been indefinitely committed to a mental institution.
Bixby's mother is serving a life sentence for helping to plan the ambush.
11/18/2009 4:17:21 AM
