Prosecutors cite ‘discovery’ in Pelosi attack
Prosecutors in the federal criminal case against David DePape, the man accused of attacking U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s husband, on Wednesday asked a judge to give them until February to evaluate a mountain of evidence in the case.
Their request was made at a brief status hearing at a federal courthouse in San Francisco.
Assistant Federal Public Defender Angela Chuang, who is representing DePape in his federal case, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
DePape, who is being held in custody and was in the courtroom Wednesday, has pleaded not guilty to a slew of federal and state charges against him.
The federal charges include kidnapping and one count of assault upon a family member of a U.S. official. He will next appear in federal court on Feb. 8. District Court Judge Jacqueline Scott Corley is presiding over the federal case.
San Francisco District Attorney Brooke Jenkins’ office separately charged him with attempted murder, battery, assault and other charges related to an Oct. 28 attack on Paul Pelosi. The case will proceed to a preliminary hearing on Dec. 14.
The 42-year-old defendant told law enforcement officials that he had been “on a suicide mission” when he broke into the Pelosi home in Pacific Heights in the middle of the night, awakening Paul Pelosi and demanding to see his wife, who was in Washington, D.C., at the time.
Pelosi managed to make a call to 911 from the bathroom, but was cryptic about what he was calling about; nonetheless, a San Francisco dispatcher surmised that something wasn’t right, and elevated the call to an emergency.
When officers arrived at the residence, they tackled DePape — moments after he allegedly struck Pelosi with a hammer.
The attack left Pelosi, 82, with a fractured skull and injuries to his hands and right arm.
DePape, who reportedly was consumed with far-right conspiracy theories, is also accused of plotting to kidnap and interrogate Nancy Pelosi.
A former girlfriend told The Chronicle that DePape struggled with mental illness and had grown convinced, at one point, that “he was Jesus.”