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