NETWORKWOMEN.COM: COVER STORY, SEPTEMBER, 2001

JOY WATSON

New Bureau Chief, Sex Offense & Domestic Violence,
Nassau County Office of the District Attorney

BY REGINA MARCAZZO

When Joy M. Watson contemplates her most memorable experience as a prosecutor in the Nassau County District Attorney's Office, it doesn't take her long to come up with the case of Roberto Ciaprazi.

The Romanian immigrant, who kidnaped an Upper Brookville teen from his home as the family ate dinner was sentenced to 25 years to life after he was found guilty of the crime. However, he maintained throughout the trial that he was incompetent and legally insane at the time of the crime and went to great lengths to try to prove it.

His display during the beginning of the trial was no exception. "I was right in the middle of my opening statement and he stripped naked," Watson said, recalling the disturbance that followed. "That was when TV was allowed in the courtroom. The whole thing was captured on tape," she said.

It was also "Take Your Daughter to Work Day" and there were a number of young girls in the courtroom, according to the skilled prosecutor who managed not to lose her composure and was able to recommence after Ciaprazi was escorted out. He was forced to watch the remainder of the case out of the courtroom through closed circuit television.

Watson has held a number of positions and has prosecuted many cases since she began her tenure at the Nassau County District Attorney's Office as an assistant district attorney. She was recently named bureau chief of the Sex Offense and Domestic Violence Bureau and currently supervises eight trial attorneys, three paralegals, three social workers, crime victim advocates and three legal secretarial assistants.

In addition, she maintains a case load of her own with her work requiring that she present evidence before the Nassau County Grand Juries and that she conduct trial and pretrial hearings at County Court.

Just prior to her promotion, Watson was Deputy Bureau Chief for the Major Offense Bureau. It was during her tenure in the bureau that she was named Special Prosecutor in the high profile case of the "People of the State of New York v. Elizabeth Grubman,"

"It was an interesting experience," said Watson, explaining that the case was moved to Nassau County to avoid the appearance of impropriety because of a connection between the Suffolk County District Attorney and a private investigator.

Although the case was high profile, Watson treated it as she does any other case with regard to the usual crime scene investigations, statement readings and meetings with witnesses. The experience was challenging because of the media attention and public interest.

"I knew that my every move would be watched. I anticipated more media attention than ever. I didn't want to speak about the case as much," she said, adding that she was not distracted by the high publicity case when she was in the courtroom.

Leaving the courtroom was another story since people would swarm around her as she left at the end of the day. Watson believes the great interest in the case stems from the intrigue of the crime venue and because of the wealthy status of the defendant. "People are always curious about what happens in the Hamptons," she said.

Her work on the case did not include dealings with Grubman herself. "The only time I would even see her was in the courtroom," Watson said, explaining how prosecutor meetings with defendants are solely a part of television law dramas and certainly not real life.

The Grubman case was concluded with Grubman pleading guilty to a felony and admitting her criminal negligence.

Prior to the media attention that followed the incident of Grubman backing into employees and patrons at a Southampton club, Watson was not familiar with the public relations executive. "I love to do the New York magazine crossword puzzle," explained Watson, recalling how she was sitting with her future husband after completing a puzzle and placed the magazine on the coffee table. On the cover was Elizabeth Grubman and Watson's question was, "Who's she."

Watson does believe that the case should be considered a learning experience for the public in general. "There is a lesson to be learned for everyone. If you're in an accident, and I believe this was more than that, you must stay. Running away is not going to get you out of it and you have to be responsible."

The Grubman trial was one of many handled by Watson during her tenure at the Major Offense Bureau which handles investigations involving homicides committed in Nassau County as well as other important major offenses. In fact, Watson handled over 100 homicide cases, responding to homicide scenes and observing autopsies. She handled all aspects of the cases from initial investigation through the trial verdict.

Other noteworthy prosecutions include People v. Antonio Bertolini and Christopher Rustici. Both defendants were convicted of the 1997 murder of Paul Behr, a Syosset volunteer firefighter who was gunned down on his front lawn.

While Watson has certainly proven to have great skill in her field, becoming a prosecutor was not something she dreamed of growing up as a child on Long Island and later in Australia. It was after returning from Australia where she spent her high school years living with her father that she made the decision to become a lawyer.

Upon her reentry to New York she took a position as a legal secretary in the entertainment business. "I think I want to have the secretary and be the lawyer," she said, recalling her desire to be in the office and not sitting at the desk outside. She decided to go to law school with her initial plans being to practice entertainment law. After interning at a number of Manhattan entertainment firms, she took a course in trial practice and not only loved it but found out she was good at it. "I found a niche," she said, noting how she ended up competing in New York and Chicago.

After many years of experience, Watson now gives back to the community by giving students the opportunity to try their hand at trial law. She is a mock trial advisor for St. Mary's High School in Manhasset.

"I like to have them come here so they can actually practice in the courtroom" she said, adding, "I enjoy it so much just to see the hard work they put into it."

Watson is eager to face the challenges of her new position. "I look at each day as a professional challenge," she said, adding, "The most difficult and frustrating part of this bureau is the fact that unfortunately so many of the victims are reluctant to follow through with the prosecution, especially in domestic violence. They want an immediate cure which is to remove the offender from the house. Once the fire backs down the victims back off quite often. It just affects a person's self esteem. It's not at all unusual for an excuse to be made for the offender. It makes these cases very difficult."

Handling domestic violence cases is not completely new for Watson. While prosecuting in the major offense department she handled a number of cases but they all involved someone being killed. "Now I have a surviving victim," she said.

Cases involving sexual abuse of a child are also quite difficult. "In general people don't want to believe that someone can sexually abuse a child. When you ask a jury to convict someone of such a heinous offense, they're looking for ways not to because it's unimaginable," she said.

As for her future, Watson said, "I would like to be successful in my current position. I want to dedicate myself to that. I have a great staff, I look forward to doing the best job I can," she said, adding, "I say my future is open to anything that comes my way."

Watson started her tenure at the Nassau County District Attorney's Office on August 4, 1986. She remembers clearly that it was the Monday after she took the bar exam.

"You just keep getting more and more trial experience," said Watson, who believes that being a woman has not had an effect on her career. "You get promoted and it's regardless of gender. I really don't think there are any limitations. When I evaluate myself I don't evaluate myself as a woman, I evaluate myself as an attorney," she said.

Watson received her Bachelor of Arts degree from the State University of New York at Albany and her Juris Doctor from Pepperdine University School of Law in Malibu California. She was a teaching fellow at the university in California until 1986 when she began her tenure at the Nassau County District Attorney's Office.

The energetic and dedicated prosecutor is involved in a number of professional organizations including the American Academy for Professional Law Enforcement, the Nassau County Women's Bar Association and the New York State District Attorney's Association and she is an instructor for the National Institute for Trial Advocacy.

In addition to her new position as chief of the Sex Offense and Domestic Violence Bureau, Watson has had other changes in her life recently.

"A new house, a new husband and a new job, all inside of a month," said an enthusiastic Watson.

She was married in September to Thomas Mancusi, president of VT Mancusi, Inc., a customs brokerage firm located in Lawrence. "He and his two sons Nick and Roger have been a wonderful addition to my life, to my family," said Watson, adding that she enjoyed visiting her mother-in-law, Rose Gerace Mancusi, in Quogue during her many trips out east while investigating the Grubman case.