Joseph Naso Asks to Be His Own Lawyer: KCRA 3 Report from Marin County, April 2011

Name: Joseph Naso Asks to Be His Own Lawyer: KCRA 3 Report from Marin County, April 2011
Uploaded: 2011-04-27T00:00:00Z
Duration: 2 min
Description: A KCRA 3 live report from Marin County on April 27, 2011, the day Joseph Naso, then 77 and charged with four murders, told the judge he wanted to act as his own lawyer.

A KCRA 3 live report from Marin County on April 27, 2011, the day Joseph Naso, then 77 and charged with four murders, told the judge he wanted to act as his own lawyer.

Subject: Joseph Naso
Recorded: about April 27, 2011
Runtime: 2:00

The Interview

This is not an interview with Joseph Naso, and his voice is not heard, although the YouTube title is "Accused Serial Killer Speaks". It is a KCRA 3 noon news report from Wednesday, April 27, 2011, in which reporter Mike TeSelle, live from Marin County, describes what Naso said in court that morning and quotes him and the judge. The report includes two or three short comments from people at the courthouse who are not named.

Historical Context

Joseph Naso, a photographer born in Rochester, New York, in 1934, was living in Reno, Nevada, when a 2010 probation search of his home turned up photographs, diaries and a list of ten women with places beside them. On April 11, 2011, Marin County prosecutors charged him with the murders of four women killed between 1977 and 1994: Roxene Roggasch, Carmen Colon, Pamela Parsons and Tracy Tafoya. Two of them, Parsons and Tafoya, were found in Yuba County, in KCRA's Sacramento-area viewing region.

Circumstances of the Recording

Naso, then 77, was due to enter a plea before Judge Andrew Sweet in Marin County Superior Court in San Rafael. Instead he told the judge he wanted to represent himself. The judge postponed the hearing, and no plea was entered.

What the Interview Covers

According to TeSelle: - Naso interrupted the judge several times, including to insist on how his name is pronounced (NBC Bay Area reported the same day that he gave it a long "a", "Nay-so"); - he asked to act as his own lawyer in what could become a death penalty case; - the judge told him, "I'm going to tell you flat out, in my opinion, this is contrary to your interest," and gave him a week to think it over; - Naso said he had "had a lot of experience in proceedings, mostly in civil court," and a "lot of success in the courtroom." An unnamed speaker says that self-representation in a death penalty case had not happened in Marin County before, and a courtroom spectator gives the view that Naso "seemed crazy".

What Makes the Recording Significant

The report records the day Naso first asked to defend himself, a decision that shaped the whole case: he went on to represent himself through his 2013 trial and sentencing.

Archival Importance

It complements KRON 4's reports from the 2013 trial and sentencing stage and ABC7's report on his death sentence.

Important Caveats

- Naso is not heard. The YouTube title is misleading: his words are quoted by the reporter. - The machine text gives the anchor's name as "Walter" (not confirmed) and the next hearing date as "May 5th", which matches NBC Bay Area's report of a hearing on Thursday, May 5, 2011. - The unnamed speakers are not identified in the clip. Do not attribute their comments to any official or relative. - KCRA's "double initial" refers to the matching initials of the victims' first and last names.

Anchor: New at noon: a Reno man accused in a string of cold case killings, including two women murdered in Yuba County, [unclear: "they spoke" / "he spoke"] out for the first time. Joseph Naso appeared in a Marin County courtroom, and his words quickly caught a lot of folks' attention this morning. KCRA 3's Mike TeSelle is live from Marin with what he had to say. Mike?

Mike Teselle: And, [unclear: "Walter" / "Walt"], like the old E.F. Hutton TV commercial, when Joseph Naso spoke out for the first time here in Marin County courtroom, everybody in the courtroom stopped to listen. 77-year-old Joseph Naso interrupted the judge on several occasions, including [unclear: "distress" / "to stress"] that his name is pronounced [unclear: "Nasau" / "Nay-so"]. He was set to enter a plea today, but instead the man accused in connection with murders of four women whose first and last initials all matched told the judge that he now wants to act as his own lawyer in this potential death penalty case. If allowed, that move in this so-called double-initial serial killing cold cases would be a first for Marin County.

Official: We've not had a death penalty case where that's happened in our county. It has happened in the state.

Courtroom Spectator: I thought he seemed crazy, that I think he's doing that for down the road to try to get off.

Courtroom Spectator: Now we know why he was [unclear: "referring to his crazy Joe" / possibly "referred to as Crazy Joe"].

Mike Teselle: Now, in response to Naso's request to act as his own lawyer, the judge actually said, quote, "I'm going to tell you flat out, in my opinion, this is contrary to your interest." And because of it, he ended up postponing today's hearing; no plea was entered. He wants to give Naso a week to think about his decision, and he'll be back to give his decision come May 5th. But even before that, Naso explained that he has, quote, "had a lot of experience in proceedings, mostly in civil court," and, in his words, has had a, quote, "lot of success in the courtroom." Live in Marin County, Mike TeSelle, KCRA 3 reports. ---