Waterfield v. State

WHATLEY, Judge.

In 1983 Frederick L. Waterfield Jr. was charged in Indian River County with several counts of murder and kidnapping. Reacting to pretrial publicity, the Circuit Court for the Nineteenth Judicial Circuit transferred some charges to the Fifth Judicial Circuit Court, Lake County. One homicide charge was transferred to the Twentieth Judicial Circuit, Charlotte County, where Waterfield was convicted of the lesser-included offense of manslaughter and sentenced to fifteen years in prison.

Over twenty-three years after his conviction and sentence were affirmed by this court, see…