Crime & Safety

Accused Serial Killer Joseph Naso Deluged with Paperwork

Marin County District Attorney Ed Berberian said the prosecution has provided Naso with over 12,657 pages of discovery.

Accused serial killer Joseph Naso has a lot of reading to do.

At a hearing in Marin County Superior Court this morning, Marin County District Attorney Ed Berberian disclosed the prosecution has provided Naso 5,657 pages of discovery material relevant to the four murder charges it has filed against him and will deliver an additional 7,000 pages of discovery within the next three weeks.

Naso, 77, of Reno, Nev., is charged with killing four women, including one each in Marin and Contra Costa counties, between 1977 and 1994. He is scheduled to enter a plea to the charges Friday morning.

On May 6, Marin County Superior Court Judge Andrew E. Sweet approved Naso's request to represent himself on the four Northern California murder charges. He is thereby entitled to receive the voluminous discovery material about the case.

Also included in the discovery material are CDs and DVDs. Naso told Sweet this morning some of the audio on the discs is of poor quality and that he cannot understand what is being said. He said an investigator who provided the discs told him, "You have to take it as it comes."

Sweet said the discs are copies of what is in the prosecution's possession and that those discs could also be of poor quality.

Naso has also asked for the return of "legal papers" that were taken from him when he was arrested in South Lake Tahoe on April 11.

The papers were among items in a black bag. Naso said they include a half-dozen manila envelopes containing handwritten notes from correspondence with attorneys and the Nevada Department of Public Safety.

"I was warned about this case from outside sources a year ago," he told the judge.

Sweet ordered the legal papers returned to Naso and allowed the prosecution to give copies of any non-legal papers to Naso. Berberian said CDs containing photos have already been returned to Naso.

Sweet delayed a ruling on whether the document regarding the probable cause for filing the murder charges should be unsealed. He said he would issue a written opinion "shortly."

Media including the Associated Press, Bay Area News Group, Nevada County Publishing Inc., Sierra Nevada Media group and KTVU have asked Sweet to unseal the document, claiming it is part of the judicial proceedings and should be a public document.

Marin County Deputy District Attorney Dori Ahana argued this morning the document is not part of the public record.

She said probable cause determinations are part of an informal, non-adversarial process where normal rules of evidence do not apply.

Naso told the court he also wants the document sealed. He said he fears the information in the document may be "misinterpreted."

"I've seen reports that are a little adverse to me and what this case is about," he said.

He said there have been distortions and false accounts about him in the media that could affect his preliminary hearing and trial.

Bay City News Service


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