'It's
time' to retire, Brown County Circuit Court Judge Naze says
Naze's stint will end halfway through term
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By Andy Nelesen
anelesen@greenbaypressgazette.com
January 4, 2008
With 20 years on the bench and another decade in public service as the
county's chief prosecutor, Brown County Circuit Court Judge Peter Naze
has decided to hang up his robe.
Naze, 65, sent a letter Thursday to Gov. Jim Doyle notifying him of his
plans to retire in March — halfway through his fourth six-year term.
"I've been thinking about it and concluded it's time," Naze said after
completing his afternoon hearing Thursday. "I'm going to miss the work,
and I'm going to miss the people … but it's time to move on."
A 1972 University of Wisconsin Law School graduate, Naze worked as an
assistant district attorney in Brown County for 2½ years before
moving to private practice in 1975. Naze returned to the Brown County
District Attorney's Office as the boss in 1977 and held office until
defeating attorney Charles Kuehn for the judge seat in April 1987.
The vacancy will leave Doyle with a mid-term judicial appointment.
Whoever is appointed to fill the job will be expected to run in the
2011 election.
In recent years, Naze has presided over a slew of high-profile cases,
most notably the John Maloney homicide trial in 1999, in which Maloney,
a former Green Bay police arson investigator, was convicted of killing
his estranged wife, Sandy, and burning her house and body to cover up
the crime. The appeals in the case are still pending, and it already
has been before the state's Supreme Court twice.
Also on Naze's docket were:
The court trial of Georgene Vincent, one of two women convicted of
fatally drugging Matthew Wusterbarth in August 2005.
Mistye and Matthew Doughty, the couple convicted of killing Allouez
jeweler "Diamond" Doug Tappa in 2002.
The trials of Kenneth Williams and Antwaine Sago, who were both
convicted in 2002 of the drug-related robbery turned execution-style
killings of Brandon Martin, 23, and Ladell Smith, 25. The men were shot
to death in a Western Avenue apartment in July 2001.
Naze currently splits time between criminal and civil cases and expects
to remain on the bench through March 21.
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Copyright MIP
1999-2008
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