Joseph Naso Asks for More Time Before Sentencing: KRON 4 Report, September 2013
A KRON 4 report from the Marin County courthouse in September 2013, after the jury's death verdict, when Joseph Naso asked the judge for more time and was refused.
- Subject
- Joseph Naso
- Recorded
- about September 20, 2013
- Runtime
- 1:31
Content warning: Refers to a "rape journal"; concerns the murders of four women.
The Interview
This is not an interview with Joseph Naso, and his voice is not heard. It is a short KRON 4 News report by Terisa Estacio from the Marin County courthouse in September 2013, after the jury in his murder trial had recommended the death penalty. Estacio describes a hearing at which Naso, still acting as his own lawyer, asked the judge for more time before sentencing. The pictures of Naso are file footage from what the report calls his most recent court appearance where cameras were allowed.
Historical Context
Joseph Naso, a photographer born in Rochester, New York, in 1934, was convicted by a Marin County jury on August 20, 2013, of the murders of four women killed between 1977 and 1994: Roxene Roggasch, Carmen Colon, Pamela Parsons and Tracy Tafoya. He had represented himself at trial and denied the killings. The jury then recommended a death sentence, leaving the final decision to the judge.
Circumstances of the Recording
The report was posted on September 21, 2013, so the hearing took place on or shortly before September 20. The clip does not give its exact date. The jury recommended death on Tuesday, September 17, 2013, and NBC Bay Area reported that day that Naso was next due in court on Friday, which points to Friday, September 20.
What the Interview Covers
According to Estacio: - Naso was combative at times and told the judge he felt he was being abused; - although he had recently told the jury he wanted to go to prison so he could help other inmates, he now asked for more time to prepare legal briefs; - the judge denied the request, and Naso raised his voice, saying he felt he was being "pushed out the back door"; - sentencing was set for November 8. She also summarizes the prosecution's evidence at trial: DNA, photographs and a "rape journal".
What Makes the Recording Significant
The report records a step between the verdict and the sentence, and Naso's resistance to the pace of the case as his own lawyer.
Important Caveats
- Naso is not heard; his complaints are the reporter's paraphrase. - "A jury recently handed down a death sentence" means the jury recommended death; the judge imposed sentence later. - The sentencing date given, November 8, was not the final date: Naso was sentenced on November 22, 2013. - The exact date of this hearing is not established.
Terisa Estacio: Here at the Marin County Courthouse, convicted serial killer Joseph Naso was combative at times. At one point he said to the judge that he felt like he was being abused and that it wasn't right what was going on. Naso is fighting for his life. A jury recently handed down a death sentence, but now it is up to a judge to decide whether he should get a life sentence or be put on death row. This is Naso in the most recent court appearance where cameras were allowed. Naso is acting as his own attorney during the trial, which stretched over several months. Naso argued that he was innocent and that he never killed these four women.
Terisa Estacio: But prosecutors presented DNA evidence, photos and a rape journal [unclear: "they say" / "that they say"] tied Naso to the crimes. The jury agreed. Although Naso recently told the jury that he wanted to go to prison so that he could help other inmates, now he is changing his tune, arguing that he needs more time to prepare legal briefs to keep him out of prison and far away from death row. Naso implored the judge to give him more time, but the judge denied his request. Then Naso raised his voice, saying that he felt like he was being pushed out the back door. Naso will find out his fate on November 8th. In Marin County, Terisa Estacio, KRON 4 News. ---