Error forces do-over of DePape sentencing
A day after David DePape was sentenced to 30 years in prison for a breakin at former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s home and an attack on her husband, a federal judge ordered a redo of the sentencing because DePape wasn’t given an opportunity to speak during the hearing.
In court filings Saturday, District Judge Jacqueline Scott Corley called it an error on her part. She scheduled the do-over for May 28 to give DePape, 44, the chance to make a statement. Before defendants are sentenced, they are entitled to speak in court to attempt to influence the outcome.
The unusual twist in the high-profile case came after prosecutors raised the issue after DePape’s sentencing hearing, according to court filings. Neither prosecutors nor DePape’s attorneys raised the issue in court, although the judge acknowledged the onus was on her to ask DePape whether he wished to speak.
After prosecutors filed a motion to reopen the sentencing hearing, DePape’s attorneys filed a notice of appeal. Prosecutors and DePape’s attorneys did not immediately respond Sunday to requests seeking comment.
After a four-day trial, a jury convicted DePape last November of attempting to kidnap Rep. Pelosi and assaulting her husband, Paul Pelosi, with a hammer at their home on Oct 28, 2022.
The attack left Paul Pelosi hospitalized with a skull fracture. Nancy Pelosi — who DePape said was his target — was not home.
On Friday, prosecutors called the attack “an act of domestic terrorism” and pushed for a sentence of 40 years in prison.
DePape’s attorneys asked for a sentence of 14 years. While they described his actions as “awful, inexcusable and unjustifiable,” they said the crimes paled in comparison to the attack on the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. Prison terms stemming from the attack ranged from 15 to 22 years for defendants convicted of “seditious conspiracy.”
DePape’s attorneys also said their client was at a low point of his life during the months before the attack. He was isolated from his family and unstable, they added.
The defense said DePape was caught up in conspiracy theories. At trial, DePape, who took the stand, spoke of his obsession with video games and “alt-right” podcasts that discussed baseless conspiracy theories, including a theory that high-ranking politicians and celebrities were trafficking children.
On the day DePape carried out his plan, he evaded the Pelosis’ 24-hour security team, broke through a glass window and slipped into the home, where he crept up to Paul Pelosi’s bedside.
Paul Pelosi was able to call 911. When officers showed up, DePape smashed Pelosi over the head with the hammer.
Along with the hammer, DePape had zip ties, rope and duct tape. He later told investigators he intended to break Nancy Pelosi’s kneecaps “if she lied” to him.
Before she handed down the sentence, Corley said she believed DePape still posed a danger to the public and that the attack could result in chilling impacts by dissuading Americans from considering a career in public service.
“Because of that we will never know everything that we have lost because of this crime,” the judge said.
Aside from the prosecution in federal court, DePape is set to face a separate trial in San Francisco Superior Court this month on charges of attempted murder, assault with a deadly weapon and elder abuse.