CONWAY, S.C. (WPDE) — More than two years after an alleged road-rage incident claimed the life of Scott Spivey, a judge has ruled Weldon Boyd cannot claim immunity from civil liability through the State’s “Stand Your Ground” defense.
Judge Griffeth was swift in denying Boyd’s request for immunity and questioned his credibility. Boyd’s co-defendant and passenger, Bradley Williams, still has a shot at immunity. The judge said he will accept the Order request from both parties in the wrongful death case; one pleading for immunity and one requesting it be denied if Spivey’s family wishes to still hold Williams liable.
“The judge heard everything. So whatever he ruled, he will have had the benefit of having all the information there is in this case, and then, you know, these are all tough cases, tough cases for the Spivey family and everybody involved,” said Williams’ attorney Morgan Martin.
ABC 15 has reached out to Boyd’s attorney for comment. We are waiting for a response.
READ MORE: DAY 4: Boyd denied immunity in ‘Stand Your Ground’ hearing for Spivey case
Meanwhile, Spivey’s sister says this decision is a break from what her family has had to deal with since September 2023.
“It’s been a lot of ‘nos’ in the past two and a half years, and this is the first ‘yes,’ and I’m hoping that we’ll get a lot more yes’s now,” said Jennifer Spivey Foley. “Nothing is going to bring Scott back, but this is just the start on the road to get justice for him.”
But is it the start of something more in the case surrounding the deadly shooting along Camp Swamp Road? All week during the hearing, Coastal Carolina University Professor and Criminal Justice Department Chair Carig Boylstein has weighed in on the proceedings. He sees the next step in this case is still a fork in the road after the Judge makes a decision on Bradley Williams, which could come later in March.
“I see that kind of route in this case. So a large civil suit, and whether it actually goes to trial or not, will be up to obviously the attorneys, whether they want to, plea bargain it or not,” Boylstein said.
Local law enforcement and the Attorney General declined to press formal charges on Boyd and Williams. Boylstein believes there could come a day when charges come out of the Friday decision by Judge Griffeth.
It’s still open. So even if you make a statement that we don’t see, you know, the evidence isn’t pointing towards a criminal charge that can change in the future. Right? So, you can always, you know, there’s obviously, with a death, there’s no statute of limitations, so you can always bring up those charges. So just someone saying that we’re not bringing up charges doesn’t impact, you know, impair you or stop you from making the charges later on.
It’s certainly just the start for the Spivey family attorney Mark Tinsley, who admonished public officials following the decision.
“What this family’s been through. The way this family’s been treated by politicians. It’s said that with great power comes great responsibility. And that ain’t saying no. And digging in and not looking. Because of arrogance, pride, political motivation,” Tinsley said. “This is a travesty that we are here right now, that this girl and this mother had to do this, and they should be ashamed, everyone involved should be ashamed.”
As they were leaving, Tinsley rolled out several boxes of documents, claiming they were additional evidence.
“I subpoenaed the Attorney General’s office to see what they had, and I’m telling you this pile of stuff that I have in front of me is a fraction of what they had, and they did not look at it,” Tinsley said.”This has always been the Judge’s decision, the Statute says it’s the Judge’s decision, and you’ve got to ask yourselves why are we here? We hear why we’re here in all those phone calls.”
