Pelosi Attacker David DePape’s Lawyers Oppose Reopening of Sentencing Hearing, Allege New Court Error

Controversy erupts over sentencing procedures in Pelosi attack case.

The husband of former U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Paul Pelosi (R), fights for control of a hammer with his assailant David DePape during a brutal attack in the couple's San Francisco home on Oct. 28, 2022, in a still from police body-camera video. San Francisco Police Department via AP

Attorneys for David DePape, the man sentenced to 30 years in prison for assaulting former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s (D-Calif.) husband, have filed a motion opposing a judge’s decision to reopen Mr. DePape’s sentencing hearing and want the case reassigned to a different judge.

U.S. District Judge Jacqueline Corley of the Northern District of California issued an order over the weekend, ruling to reopen Mr. DePape’s sentencing hearing due to an error consisting of failing to let him speak during earlier court proceedings.

That decision came just days after Judge Corley sentenced Mr. DePape, who broke into Paul Pelosi’s home and struck him in the head with a hammer, to a total of 30 years in prison.

Prosecutors had called for a 40-year sentence, arguing that Mr. DePape’s crimes amounted to terrorism because they targeted Mr. Pelosi’s wife, a government official, and so his punishment should be more severe than standard sentencing guidelines would call for.

Now, Mr. DePape’s attorneys are objecting to the reopening of resentencing, arguing that the court once again committed an error.

In a May 22 filing, the attorneys said that the court not only violated their client’s rights when it sentenced him without affording him the opportunity to speak during earlier proceedings, but they also claimed that the court once again violated their client’s rights by granting the government’s motion to reopen his sentencing without giving Mr. DePape an opportunity to respond.

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Mr. DePape is facing a separate state trial, where he faces a possible life sentence without the possibility of parole.

His attorneys said in the May 22 filing that hauling him back into federal court to reopen his sentencing hearing violates court rules and “basic principles of due process” while also illegally prejudicing his Fifth and Sixth amendment rights to present a defense and to the assistance of counsel in his state proceedings.

“This Court’s rushed schedule and ongoing state trial will not afford Mr. DePape’s federal defense team adequate opportunity to prepare Mr. DePape for any resentencing hearing,” his attorneys wrote, urging the court to deny the government’s motion to reopen sentencing.

The judge granted the government’s motion to reopen sentencing proceedings less than 24 hours after it was filed despite also giving Mr. DePape an opportunity to respond to the government’s motion by May 22, which amounts to another error, the attorneys claim.

They also argued that any resentencing proceedings should take place before a different judge because the court already expressed “strong views” about the appropriateness of sentencing him to a lengthy sentence of 30 years behind bars.

“The Court cannot reasonably be expected to put its previously expressed conclusions aside to fairly and appropriately resentence Mr. DePape,” they wrote, adding that if the court insists on resentencing him during his ongoing state trial over his objections, the court should reassign the matter to a different judge to “preserve the appearance of justice.”

Mr. DePape’s attorneys also filed a notice of appeal on May 17, the day of the sentencing. However, despite the notice of appeal, the court scheduled the reopened sentencing hearing for May 28 and requested any response from the defense by noon on May 22, leading to the latest filing raising objections and calling for a new judge to be assigned to the case.

Background

In November 2023, a federal jury found Mr. DePape guilty of attempting to kidnap Ms. Pelosi, then serving as speaker, and assaulting her husband, both on account of her official duties as a member of Congress.

Prosecutors argued that Mr. DePape’s crimes—committed a week before the 2022 congressional midterm elections—were calculated to influence the conduct of government.

Even though Mr. DePape was not convicted of terrorism, his offenses amounted to the “federal crime of terrorism,” which is defined as an offense that “is calculated to influence or affect the conduct of government by intimidation or coercion, or to retaliate against government conduct,” according to a sentencing memorandum, filed in U.S. District Court in San Francisco on May 10.

David DePape in Berkeley, Calif., on Dec. 13, 2013. Michael Short/San Francisco Chronicle via AP

Prosecutors argued in the sentencing memo that Mr. DePape has not shown any remorse and deserves no leniency for the two crimes that he was convicted of last year—attempted kidnapping and assault on account of a federal official’s performance of official duties.

The charges carry a maximum sentence of 20 years and 30 years, respectively, in prison. Prosecutors argued that a terrorism enhancement should be applied to Mr. DePape’s sentencing because his crimes were calculated to intimidate or retaliate against a government official and should be deemed a “federal crime of terrorism.”

The terrorism enhancement that prosecutors are seeking means that, besides calling for the maximum sentence of 20 years and 30 years for each count, 10 years of the sentence should run consecutively and the rest concurrently, for a total of 40 years behind bars.

In sentencing Mr. DePape on May 17, the judge opted for some leniency. She sentenced him to 20 years for one count and 30 years for the other but ordered both sentences to run concurrently, meaning that he must serve 30 years in prison. Mr. DePape was also given credit for the 18 months he’s already been in custody.

In this courtroom sketch, David DePape appears at a hearing in San Francisco, Calif., on Nov. 15, 2022. Vicki Behringer/Reuters

However, during the May 17 sentencing hearing, the court failed to allow Mr. DePape an opportunity to speak or present information that could potentially reduce his sentence, which is a requirement under federal law.

Judge Corley acknowledged that it was the court’s responsibility to ask Mr. DePape if he wished to speak, and the failure to do so constituted a “clear error.”

During testimony, Mr. DePape confessed to breaking into Mr. Pelosi’s residence in the early hours of Oct. 28, 2022, before attacking him with a hammer.

He said his plan was to take the speaker hostage and “break her kneecaps” if she lied to him. Mr. DePape explained to police officers after his arrest that if this occurred and she appeared in Congress in a wheelchair, it would serve as a warning to other members about the consequences of their actions while describing Ms. Pelosi as the “leader of the pack of [expletive] liars.”

Mr. DePape also testified that he planned to target others after Ms. Pelosi, including President Joe Biden’s son Hunter Biden, billionaire George Soros, actor Tom Hanks, and California Gov. Gavin Newsom.

Caden Pearson and Zachary Stieber contributed to this report.