Team Justice Bailiff, Judge Bring Levity To Courthouse

Chuck Naccarato swings a pair of spectacles in one hand and ponders how to describe his job as a court bailiff.

“I cushion the journey to justice,” he says finally, slowly, placing a hand over his heart. With a sheepish smile and elbow nudge he adds quickly, “You could learn it in five minutes.”

Naccarato, 52, is a secretary, reporter, spokesman and bodyguard for his boss and best friend, Superior Court Judge James Murphy.

The two have been a team for the past six years, since Naccarato filled the vacancy left by Murphy’s former assistant. By now, Naccarato has held his job longer than any other bailiff at the Spokane County Courthouse.

“I think us being friends may have helped me get the job,” Naccarato joked.

“Not that anyone else applied,” Murphy added.

Their friendship gave new life to the fourth-floor courtroom, where laughter erupts during breaks from emotional testimony or tense sentencing hearings.

Between sessions, lawyers often come in for a visit, more for conversation than official business. Clerks stop by for Naccarato’s famed mochas. Judges drift through for no reason in particular.

“They come in to see Chuck,” Murphy said with a shrug. “I never see them. They know he’s the one who really runs the show.”

Besides handling Murphy’s daily schedule and yukking it up with lawyers, Naccarato said he most enjoys taking care of jury members. As the bailiff, he’s the only person who gets to talk to them outside of court during a trial.

The best part is when the jury foreman rings the buzzer to let Naccarato know they’ve reached a verdict, he said.

“I’m the first one to get that piece of paper,” Naccarato said, eyes wide. “It takes a lot of self-control not to look at it before I hand it to the judge. Of course, everyone’s going to know in a matter of seconds anyway, but still…”

Naccarato went to work at the courthouse as a clerk in 1973 and became Superior Court’s chief deputy clerk in 1988. He earned an economics degree from Eastern Washington University, but said he preferred working for his dad at the family’s Farmer’s Market on East Sprague to pursuing a career in labor relations.

He applied in 1990 for the bailiff’s job with Murphy, a childhood friend who by then had 13 years on the bench.

“He came in here and said he wanted to be my bailiff and I said, ‘You’ve got to be kidding,”’ Murphy recalled. “I worried we wouldn’t get a thing done.”

Now the two spend time together outside of the courthouse, along with their wives, who also are friends. This week the couples are heading to Atlanta for the Summer Olympics, where Murphy will be a track and field official.

“Despite his rough outer bearings, Chuck is a pretty smooth operator,” Murphy said. “And a darn good schmoozer.”

No one knows that better than Chuck Ackerman, another Superior Court bailiff and childhood friend of Naccarato’s.

Ackerman also started as a clerk at the courthouse, but said he aspired to be a bailiff when he saw how much fun Naccarato was having.

“I was so naive,” Ackerman said. “I thought all of the bailiffs would get to sit around and do nothing like Chuck did all day.”

Ackerman said his friend’s biggest hobby is watching television, mainly “to find stories that are complimentary toward Italian-Americans.”

“Chuck has visions of being a gangster but he’s just too nice,” Ackerman said. “Everybody loves him. He’ll do anything for you.”

As an example of his kindness, several colleagues recalled a day when Naccarato tried to fend off an angry woman who was demanding to see Murphy about a prior court ruling.

Naccarato’s polite attempts to stop her were no match for the woman, who quickly forced her way to the door of Murphy’s chambers.

“I kept saying, ‘Please, ma’am, you can’t go in there,’ and I was standing in front of her,” Naccarato said. “I tried to hold her back but I didn’t want to hurt her or anything.”

It took Julie Clemo, a petite bailiff half the woman’s size, to stop her, Naccarato said.

“She just happened to walk in and went right over and yelled at that lady to back off,” he said. “It was like, problem solved. She left.”

Clemo said Naccarato apologized to the woman as she left.

“I think he felt pretty bad about it,” Clemo said.

Such friendliness tends to put everyone at ease in Murphy’s courtroom.

“It’s a well-oiled machine thanks to Chuck,” said Carl Maxey, a longtime Spokane attorney. “And he still manages to make everyone feel like they’ve known him forever.”

“He’s the consummate bailiff,” said Seattle attorney John Muenster, who had a trial in Murphy’s courtroom last year. “I considered moving (to Spokane) because of him.”

Naccarato, who has a buoyant walk and generous smile, has a knack for doing no less than four things at once. He’s superstitious, refusing to this day to touch a shirt he wore two years ago when he suffered a heart attack.

He attributes much of the lawyers’ praise to his love for his work.

“I have the best job,” he said. “I work with the best people. What could beat what I do?”

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Color photo