A Polk County, Tenn., man charged in an August 2012 triple slaying won't face the death penalty after scheduling problems in the 10th Judicial District Attorney's Office led to the withdrawal last week of the death penalty notice.
Circuit Court Judge Sandra Donaghy on Nov. 18, 2015, ordered the district attorney's office to show cause "why the assigned attorneys should not be held in contempt of court for failing to respond to pleadings" proscribed in the court's scheduling order for the death penalty case, court records show.
George Steven Waters, 33 when charged, faces three counts of first-degree murder in the Aug. 17, 2012, slayings of his aunt, uncle and cousin - respectively, 59-year-old Wanda Waters, 61-year-old Willard Waters and their 40-year-old son, Marion Doug Waters - in a property dispute. Wanda and Doug Waters were shot dead at the scene on George Road in the Grassy Creek community. Willard Waters died later at a hospital, authorities told the Times Free Press in 2012.
Court records show Waters was indicted Jan. 7, 2013, in connection with the slayings and the state filed a death penalty notice in the case on Nov. 3, 2014. A death penalty notice triggers a strict court schedule and the enforcement of special procedures that come into play when a criminal defendant's life is at stake.
On May 19, 2015, Donaghy issued a detailed scheduling order that required attorneys on both sides of the case to file pleadings or motions by July 11, 2015, for a hearing set Oct. 11, 2015. The defense responded in a timely manner to all 23 pleadings in the case, but the state filed pleadings 1-15 in a timely manner then failed to respond on pleadings 16-23 and made no request for an extension, Donaghy states.
"The absence of responsive pleadings is problematic. This case is a capital case. All pleadings must be heard in a timely fashion and deadlines were established to assure orderly administration," Donaghy states, noting that a trial is set for September of this year.
"A delay occasioned by inattentiveness to detail or flagrant disregard of previous established deadlines could put the entire schedule in jeopardy," Donaghy states in the show cause order.
Court records show prosecutors responded on Jan. 25 by withdrawing the death penalty notice and filing a notice that the state will instead seek a sentence on conviction of life without the possibility of parole.
Tenth Judicial District Attorney General Stephen Crump was out of town on Monday and Assistant District Attorney Drew Robinson, who has been handling the case, was in court on Monday and unable to return calls for comment.
Waters' lawyer, Cleveland, Tenn., attorney G. Scott Kanavos, would not comment specifically on the withdrawal of the death notice or the show cause order, but said he stands behind Waters.
"I believe in my client's innocence and we are getting ready for trial," Kanavos said on Monday.
Court records filed in August 2013 show Waters intends to rely on a self-defense and defense of a third person criminal defense, contending that he was in fear for his life and was defending himself and his father, George Waters, in the fatal encounter.
Meanwhile, Polk County jail records show Waters remains free on a $375,000 bond with orders that require him to stay away from the victims' family and the property where the slayings allegedly happened, to wear a monitoring device and and to stay inside the 10th Judicial District - which comprises four Tennessee counties, Bradley, Polk, McMinn and Monroe.
Contact staff writer Ben Benton at bbenton@timesfreepress.com or twitter.com/BenBenton or www.facebook.com/ben. benton1 or 423-757-6569.