Man sues sheriff’s office

$10 million suit claims slander, negligence

February 23, 2007

By CHRIS TRAINOR
Index-Journal staff writer

A Greenwood paint contractor has filed a lawsuit against the Greenwood County Sheriff’s Office, seeking damages in the amount of $10 million.
Dennis Michael Clark, who was acquitted Jan. 31 in a case where he was charged with misrepresenting fundraising in 2005, and his attorney, Lance Sheek, filed the lawsuit Thursday at the Greenwood County Courthouse. Sheek said the lawsuit accuses the sheriff’s office of malicious prosecution, slander, negligence and intentional infliction of emotional distress in its earlier case against Clark.
“The amount named is 10 million dollars,” Sheek said. “The amount awarded, if any, will be determined by the jury.”
Sheek said it is likely to take as long as 18 months before the suit goes to trial.
The trial the suit stems from pertained to Clark being accused of misrepresentation during fundraising in connection with a May 20, 2005, diabetes research benefit show. The initial report in the incident accused Clark of raising money for diabetes research at the benefit, which was a concert-style show, and then not distributing it to the charities, such as the Juvenile Diabetes Research Fund.
But when the trial rolled around, the indictment against Clark called for the jury to consider one specific code sub-section of the law regarding misrepresentation during fundraising. That sub-section of code 33-56-120 states: “A person shall not make any representation that he is soliciting contributions for or on behalf of a charitable organization or shall not use or display any emblem, device, or printed matter belonging to or associated with a charitable organization for the purpose of soliciting or inducing contributions from the public without first being authorized to do so by the charitable organization.”
Considering that one specific sub-section, Clark was found not to be in violation. Ron Fleming, who tried the case for the prosecution, said Feb. 1 that representatives from JDRF did give Clark promotional materials for the benefit, rendering him not guilty considering the sub-section the jury was charged to decide on.
Through a statement, Greenwood County Sheriff’s Office Chief Deputy Mike Frederick made his feelings clear about Clark’s initial trial.
“Some legal wrangling on the part of Clark’s defense counsel precluded the jury from voting on the issue of whether or not Clark misrepresented during the fundraising by failing to forward the funds as promised,” Frederick said. “They could vote only upon the issue of whether or not he had permission to solicit funds on behalf of the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation.
“Of course, the primary reason we arrested Clark after our investigation was the fact that we had probable cause to believe that he made a profit on the event and failed to donate the funds. Because of a technical issue with the indictment, however, we weren’t able to get that issue before the jury.”
On Thursday, Clark stood in front of the Greenwood County Courthouse and detailed some of the reasons he is bringing the suit against the sheriff’s office.
“For 19 months, I was prosecuted without a jury, through the news media,” Clark said. “I was on the news, on the front page of the paper. My reputation took a huge hit. I’ve been pointed at, laughed at and ridiculed.
“I filed for a speedy trial, but they kept prolonging it — for 13 months. But I was found not guilty. That’s why I’ve got Lance Sheek. I was not guilty, and now something needs to be done.”
Clark insists he was only trying to help with the 2005 benefit.
“I’ve done benefits for people in this town, I’ve never charged people a dime,” Clark said. “I did it out of the goodness of my heart. They took me and threw me in this courtroom and threatened to take me to prison. I would have gone to prison that day I was found not guilty, if they had found me guilty.”
Frederick said things will be business as usual at the sheriff’s office, despite the lawsuit.
“Generally speaking, law enforcement agencies are sued on a regular basis by folks they’ve arrested,” Frederick said. “We can’t waste too much of our time worrying about that as we investigate crimes. We investigate, make the best case we can and tell it to the jury.
“Keep in mind that there’s a lot of territory between ‘not guilty’ and ‘innocent.’ We don’t begrudge any defendant their right to sue. We let the attorneys handle it and keep doing our jobs.”

Rita Bixby next for prosecution

Arthur Bixby’s health uncertain

February 23, 2007

By MIKE ROSIER
Index-Journal staff writer

ABBEVILLE — Steven Vernon Bixby’s trial was only the beginning.
And the finalization of prosecution against him on Wednesday — resulting in a pair of death sentences for the 2003 murders of Sgt. Danny Wilson and Constable Donnie Ouzts, along with 125 years of imprisonment on other charges — hardly signals the end of legal proceedings involving Bixby family members.
As soon as Eighth Judicial Circuit Solicitor Jerry Peace receives an S.C. Supreme Court decision on his appeal of Tenth Circuit Court Judge Alexander Macaulay’s ruling that quashed the death penalty notice on Steven Bixby’s mother, Rita Bixby, he’s ready to proceed with the case against her. The Bixby family matriarch still has conspiracy and accessory-before-the-fact-of-murder charges hanging over her.
On Wednesday, following the recommendation of death by the jury for Steven Bixby — Rita Bixby’s youngest son — Peace confirmed the other two Bixby family members — including Steven Bixby’s father Arthur Bixby — have not yet been scheduled for trial.
He said Rita Bixby would most likely be tried next.
“They have not been scheduled as of yet,” he said. “Rita’s death penalty notice has been quashed by a judge, and that decision was appealed to the S.C. state Supreme Court. A hearing has been held on that and we’re waiting on a decision.
“Once we get that decision we’ll decide how to go forward on Rita Bixby.”
Legal matters concerning Arthur Bixby — who was in the Bixbys’ Abbeville home on Dec. 8, 2003, when his youngest son depressed the trigger on his high-powered hunting rifle multiple times that day, killing Wilson and Ouzts — are more clouded.
On Tuesday, Steven Bixby’s elder brother, Daniel Bixby, said his father suffers from “full-blown Alzheimer’s”— a condition Daniel Bixby says was hastened by the stress his father suffered that day in 2003, which included several fierce gun battles with heavily armed State Law Enforcement Division agents.
Peace confirmed Arthur Bixby’s legal future has yet to be determined.
“We’ll just have to review all that (Arthur’s case and health),” Peace said.
Peace also forwarded the possibility of trying the husband and wife together, should events fall into place that would allow that to occur.
“It all depends on when we hear back from the (Supreme) Court and what we find out in connection with Arthur’s health,” Peace said.
The solicitor, his subordinates and his entire staff can breath a huge sigh of relief, however, at least for the moment. They have prosecuted Steven Vernon Bixby to the fullest extent of the law for his violent actions.
“You go in and do the best job you can do,” Peace said. “You just do the best that you can to represent the state, and that’s what we did. I’m extremely proud of my two deputies, John Anthony and Andrew Hodges. They have done an excellent job on this case.
“I just don’t know of anything that we could have done better.”
The true significance of the infamous “Bixby Letters” — volumes of damning correspondence Steven Bixby mailed from his prison cell to then-friend Alane Taylor during 2004 — also was shared Wednesday.
The letters clearly placed the gun that killed Sgt. Danny Wilson and Constable Donnie Ouzts in the hands of one single individual: Steven Vernon Bixby. Up until just eight or nine months outside of the trial start date, the prosecution had not yet been able to mark Steven Bixby as the actual killer.
“The letters were significant,” Peace said. “In and up until we came into possession of the letters, we could not show who fired the fatal shots. Of course, in the letters, Steven Bixby admitted that he fired the shot that killed Danny Wilson and the shot that killed Donnie Ouzts. We came into possession of the letters about eight or nine months ago.”
Having now watched Steven Vernon Bixby receive a death sentence, members of the Wilson and Ouzts families are anxious to move forward in the prosecution of the remaining members of the Bixby triumvirate.
“We’ve waited a long time for this,” Cynthia Kennedy, first cousin of Danny Wilson, said following Wednesday’s court session. “We still have two more (Rita and Arthur) to go. We hope that justice is served on those two as well.”
Many family members think that while Steven Bixby might have actually pulled the trigger, it was Rita Bixby who supplied the philosophical bullets to her youngest son in the form of her narrow views on the U.S. Constitution, her violent ideals and opinions on when a certain authority (the Bible) justifies the use of deadly force, and her own extreme force of will.
At least two of the jurors in the case agreed.
In an exclusive interview with The Index-Journal on Wednesday evening, one juror referred to Rita Bixby as “the devil incarnate.”
Another said Rita Bixby was the crux of the whole matter.

A current-events lesson ripped from the headlines

Newspaper makes special delivery to classrooms

February 23, 2007

By BOBBY HARRELL
Index-Journal staff writer

At the beginning of school every Thursday, members of Greenwood High School’s JROTC program get together before classes start to sort newspapers to deliver to the rest of the school.
Their hard work helps students get the information they need through The Index-Journal every week with help from the Newspapers In Education program.
Newspapers In Education, or NIE, is used by teachers around the world to promote literacy and learning through reading the newspaper, according to The Index-Journal’s NIE information sheet.
Traditional textbooks don’t teach about today’s important events until years after they’ve occurred, but newspapers can show how textbook lessons can apply in the real world.
Kathy Johnson, a media specialist at Greenwood High, agrees about the program’s lasting learning effects.
“It gives them an opportunity to stay abreast of current affairs,” she said.
Johnson said several students are devoted to picking up the newspaper every day from the school’s library.
Greenwood High students also benefit from the newspaper by looking for jobs in the classified section and staying current with the latest local sports scores.
Newspapers In Education has been at Greenwood High for about a year and a half now, said Mundy Price, director of community relations and Newspapers In Education for The Index-Journal.
The program, which serves 23 schools in the Lakelands including Saluda, McCormick and Abbeville schools, took Price a while to put together because NIE can be designed to support different schools’ needs.
NIE started out as a class project for Price during her senior year of college in 2001.
The Index-Journal helps with NIE partly because students who develop a familiarity with the newspaper will continue to pick it up when they’re adults and partly because newspapers are a useful learning tool for teachers.
“There’s so many subject areas that newspapers are able to teach,” Price said.
Publisher Judith Mundy Burns decided The Index-Journal’s program would be strive to be 100 percent sponsored when it began, while schools in other areas have to pay a fee to have newspapers delivered to their schools, Price said.
The Index-Journal absorbs the printing expense of the NIE papers and other related costs by asking subscribers going on vacation to give their papers to schools.
Corporate sponsors such as Parade magazine and the Greenwood County Sheriff’s Office, which sponsors a drug abuse special section during Red Ribbon Week at schools, also help the program continue, Price said.
Elementary schools get their papers on Mondays and high schools get their delivery on Thursdays.
The Index-Journal drops off bundles of newspapers at the schools the night before their delivery day, and students put them together.

Coming home winners

Lander to honor senior players at homecoming

February 23, 2007

By JIM JOYCE
Special projects editor

Lander University’s men’s basketball team (16-10 overall and 10-5 in the conference) has accomplished the first of three steps this season by winning the Peach Belt Conference’s North Division title.
Step two is Saturday’s homecoming game and step three is the upcoming PBC tournament.
Saturday is not only homecoming, it is also senior night for Lander against conference foe USC Aiken at 2:30 p.m. with the women’s game that will be followed by the men’s contest.
“We feel good,” Lander coach Bruce Evans said. “After wrapping up the North there is certainly no pressure on us having to win the game, even though we want to win.
“It’s already an emotional night with it being senior night. We have a chance to improve on what we’ve done in the past, and we know they have struggled some, but we also know they will play hard.”
Nobody, he said, wants to go into a tournament on a downhill run.
“They will want to spoil our homecoming, so we can’t let our guard down,” Evans said. “We’ve been playing well and we try to talk about getting better each game and practice and try to peak for the tournament. We will try to continue what we’ve done.”
While the Bearcats clinched the North title with the Wednesday win at USC Upstate, the Lady Bearcats still have work to be done.
With their win at USC Upstate, the Lady Bearcats are only one game out of first place n the North, which could possibly end in a three-way tie between USC Aiken, Lander and UNC Pembroke.
“It’s going to be a battle,” Lander coach Kevin Pederson said. “They are very tough and a very good half-court offensive team. They will run their offense no matter what you do on defense.
“The big thing is that they know they are in first place and if they win, then they win the North Division outright. If we beat them, they know they can fall from first to third. So, obviously, both have a lot to play for.”
The Lady Bearcats (15-11 overall and 9-6 in PBC) have won nine of their last 12 games and Pederson said, “we are playing well right now.”v USC Aiken coach Mike Brandt said, “Obviously this is a very important game for both teams. Lander is an excellent basketball team with arguably two of the best players in the conference in (Tiara) Good and (Stephanie) Ponds. Good is one of the best players I have coached against.
“Ponds did not shoot that well against us in the first match-up,but I expect her to come back at us in a big way. I am sure it will be a big game for Lander. Any time you attach “homecoming” or “senior night” to a road contest, it just makes it that much tougher.”
Brandt likes the balance of his Lady Pacers, who, he said, also have good depth.
“We generally shoot the ball well and execute our offenses and defenses with precision,” he said. “Mindy Allee and Nola Grant are two seniors who have led us well.”
Brandt said he looks to attack the basket on the fast break, but he added, “If we don’t get anything, we are able to have patience to run the offense until the defense breaks down.”
USC Aiken’s women are 18-8 overall and 10-5 in the conference.
USC Aiken men’s coach Vince Alexander could not be reached for comment.

Flashes close to getting coach

February 23, 2007

By RENALDO STOVER
Index-Journal sports writer

The search for a new head football coach/athletic director at Calhoun Falls High School has finally ended and, for the third straight time, the hire comes from across Richard B. Russell Lake.
Clarke Central (Ga.) assistant coach Kenya Fouch will be tapped to lead the Blue Flashes’ athletic program, according to Calhoun Falls principal Tommy Hollingsworth.
Fouch will officially be hired pending the Abbeville School Board of Trustees’ approval Tuesday.
“I narrowed the list of people I wanted to interview down to six just from looking at the applications. They were all good candidates and had good interviews, but we offered the job to Kenya Fouch,” Hollingsworth said.
“There was an air of excitement that he brought that made him stand out above everybody else. The way I interview, it’s more than just bringing a candidate in and questions and answers. It’s more of a conversation. After taking him around the school and seeing how he interacted with the students and staff. Then Friday night, he came to the basketball game with his family and they sat in the stands and seeing the rapport he had with the community members. There’s definitely an air of excitement there.”
Hollingsworth said that the pending hire is right on schedule based on the time frame he had for bringing in a new coach.
“With the board meeting Tuesday, we knew we had to have a name to them by the February 21,” Hollingsworth said. “We actually offered him the job on Thursday and he accepted on Friday. We got all the paper work and everything turned in so everything happened right on schedule. With board approval, that’s more than just a rubber stamp.”
Hollingsworth said that he had inquired about a coach at Hart County High School (Ga.) when head coach Joby Scroggs mentioned Fouch to Nield Gordon, who attends the same church as Scroggs as a possible candidate. Fouch was a former prep player and assistant coach at Hart County (2002-05) and spent the past two seasons as defensive line coach at Clarke Central.
“I am extremely excited about this opportunity,” Fouch said. “The people in Calhoun Falls are genuine and really have a passion for Blue Flashes football. The kids that I met seem eager to get to work and they really blew me away. We have a lot to do, but it’s not really work when you love doing it. I consider myself very blessed.”
Fouch spent one season at Georgia Tech as a freshman before a knee injury ended his stay with the Yellow Jackets. He finished his college career as a member of the Furman Paladins, where he played tight end and defensive tackle during his final two years.
“It’s been my experience that the better you are defensively, the better you are period. Offensively, it depends on the personnel and secondly, it depends on who ends up calling the plays,” Fouch said. “I’ve got a pretty good idea about what we’re going to be defensively. If the hunger is there, then we’ve got everything we need to get Calhoun Falls back to where it was and I’m excited about having a chance to go try.”

Obituaries

Jack Bolt

WARE SHOALS — Jack Alvin Bolt, 72, husband of Barbara Harrison Bolt, of 5889 Poplar Springs Road, died at his home on Wednesday, Feb. 21, 2007. He was born in Laurens County, a son of the late Jessie and Catherine Weathers Bolt. He was self-employed and a member of Rock Springs Presbyterian Church.
Surviving besides his wife of the home are one daughter, Robin Lowe, Ware Shoals; three brothers, James “Jimmy” Bolt, Laurens, Rev. Buford Bolt and Julius Bolt, both of Clinton; three sisters, Velma B. Faulkner and Ellen Bolt, both of Clinton and Julia B. Pace, Greer; three grandchildren, Jacob Bolt, Michael Montjoy and Michael Madden; and three great-grandchildren.
Mr. Bolt was predeceased by a son, Mark Bolt and a sister, Patricia B. Nelson.
Funeral services will be conducted Saturday, 2 p.m. at Poplar Springs Baptist Church, with Rev. Bruce Ostrum, Rev. Dr. Marcus Bishop and Rev. Buford Bolt officiating. Burial will follow in the church cemetery.
Nephews and Don Batson will serve as active pallbearers.
The family is at the home and will receive friends at Parker-White Funeral Home Friday, 7-9 p.m.
The body will be placed in the church Saturday at 1 p.m. Memorials may be made to Poplar Springs Cemetery Fund, P.O. Box 124, Ware Shoals, S.C. 29692; to Mt. Gallagher Life Center, 11828 Indian Mound Road, Ware Shoals, S.C. 29692; or to St. Jude Hospital.
Parker-White Funeral Home in charge of arrangements.

Larry Bowick

PLUM BRANCH — Thomas Larry Bowick, 68, of Plum Branch, husband of Shirley Adams Bowick, died Wednesday, Feb. 21, 2007 at his home.
Born in Greenwood, he was a son of the late James Marion and Miriam Elmira Wood Bowick. He was retired from Daniel Construction and was the owner of Bowick’s Grocery. He served in the SC National Guard, was a Mason and was Methodist.
He was preceded in death by a brother, James Marion Bowick, Jr.
Surviving is his wife of the home; four daughters, Jean Bowick Hopson and her husband, Mike, of Beech Island, Carolyn Bowick Kimsey and her husband, Ron, of Dacula, GA, Sheryl Beall and her husband, Guy, of Richmond, VA and Donna Griffith of Plum Branch; a son, Thomas Larry “Tim” Bowick, Jr. of Jackson, SC; a sister, Miriam Bowick Laswell of Plum Branch; grandchildren, Brent, DeAnn, Terry “P.J.”, Madison, Scott “Slugger”, Karlee and Markayla; great-grandchild, Chandler; three nieces; and dog, Tiny.
A memorial service will be held at 2 p.m. Saturday at St. Paul United Methodist Church, Plum Branch, with the Rev. Wade Everett officiating.
The family is at the home.
In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to the American Heart Association, Memorials & Tributes Processing Center, PO Box 5216, Glen Allen, VA 23058-5216 or to the American Diabetes Association, Greenville-Spartanburg NC-SC Office, 16-A Brozzini Court, Greenville, SC 29615.
Harley Funeral Home and Crematory is in charge of arrangements.
Online condolences may be sent to the family by visiting www.harleyfuneralhome.com.

Dorothy Cunningham Daniel

LAURENS — Dorothy Cunningham Daniel, age 75, of 46 Mill Ham Drive, Laurens, died Wednesday, Feb. 21, 2007 at her home. A daughter of the late Simon (Ben) Cunningham and Roxie Miller Cunningham and wife of the late Lafayette Daniel, she was a member of the Mt. Zion Missionary Baptist Church, Laurens, and a retired employee of Monsanto Corp. She is survived by one daughter, Deborah Faye Barber of the home; two sons, Reginald H. Daniel of Fountain Inn, Bennie L. Daniel of Laurens; three brothers, Bennie Cunningham, Sr. of Seneca, Miller Cunningham, Sr. of Spartanburg, John B. Cunningham, Sr. of Laurens; three sisters, Lois Cunningham, Clara P. Blakely of Laurens, Sarah C. Beasley of Fountain Inn; seven grandchildren; and nine great-grandchildren. Funeral service will be held Saturday, 1 p.m. at the Mt. Zion Missionary Baptist Church, with Dr. Jefferson McDowell and Rev. Alberta Foggie officiating. Burial will be in the church cemetery. The family is at the home.
Beasley Funeral Home, Laurens.

Joyce Harper

NINETY SIX — Joyce Victoria Bartlett Harper, 78, of 101 Summer Place N., wife of Herbert Kenneth Harper, died Thursday, Feb. 22, 2007, at Self Regional Medical Center.
Services will be announced by Blyth Funeral Home & Cremation Service, Greenwood.

Brenda L. Woody

GRAY COURT — Brenda Lee Woody, 46, of 422 Woody Road in the Hickory Tavern Community, wife of James Allen Woody, Sr., passed away Thursday, Feb. 22, 2007 at her home.
Born in Greenwood, she was a daughter of the late Jack and Rosa Lee Burke Huffman. She was formerly employed by Faurecia Corporation of Fountain Inn.
Surviving in addition to her husband are two sons, Donald Anthony Huffman of Greenville and James Allen Woody, Jr. of the home; one brother, Billy F. Hellams of Belton; one sister, Loretta B. Taylor of Greenwood; and one grandchild, Chadley Reed Huffman.
Funeral services will be 2 p.m., Saturday, Feb. 24, 2007 at The Kennedy Mortuary Chapel, conducted by Rev. James K. Hamilton, with burial in the Greenwood Memorial Gardens.
The family will be at the home of her sister-in-law, Marie Feld, 239 Hickory Tots Lane, in Hickory Tavern and receive friends at The Kennedy Mortuary Friday from 7 to 8:30 p.m.
Memorials may be made to Hospice of Laurens County, P.O. Box 178, Clinton, SC 29325.
The Kennedy Mortuary, Laurens.

Opinion

Bad publicity is foreign to Abbeville, Ware Shoals

February 23, 2007

Sometimes people, places and things get what’s coming to them. That is, some of them do, particularly when they deserve a comeuppance. Ware Shoals and Abbeville have recently felt the slings of bad publicity when they don’t deserve it.
Abbeville, of course, has had the national media all over it since the Bixby trial began. Steven Bixby has been found guilty of the murder of two law enforcement officers and related charges, and given the death penalty.
Now Bixby’s mother and father face criminal charges, too, and the media circus is sure to go on for a while.

WARE SHOALS FELT THE STING of bad national publicity when a cheerleading coach was charged in a sex-related offense involving National Guardsmen and some teen-age students. In that case, too, the national media pounced. The publicity there, too, was bad, not to mention unfortunate.
The sad part of both situations is that these two cases tend to give erroneous impressions to people elsewhere who don’t know anything about either community. The people in both are proud of their towns, and rightfully so. They are both good places to live and work, worship, raise children and simply live the kind of lives that have given both Abbeville and Ware Shoals the kind of reputations that cause others to envy what they have and are.
Give ‘em a break! They don’t need or deserve the publicity that comes with terrible circumstances ..... circumstances that have nothing to do with most of the people of both communities.

NEVERTHELESS, ALL ARE FORCED to absorb the fallout.
It’s true, in general and specifically, that one bad apple does indeed spoil the whole barrel. Still, the people of Abbeville and Ware Shoals are the kindred souls that have put down roots and created places to make them proud. That being the case, our attitudes should reflect the support, in every respect, that we, as neighbors, can give to all the people of both communities.
It might help to remember that it could happen anywhere. For Abbeville and Ware Shoals, though, it’s so far out of the ordinary that it needs to be clear to all outsiders. The national media, though, reports only the outrageous when it could be showing what the two communities really are: Gentle communities, complete with good people and the southern charm that makes both special.