The man convicted of attacking former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s husband with a hammer will be resentenced after the judge forgot to give him a chance to speak at the hearing.
David DePape, 44, was found guilty in November of attempted kidnapping of a federal official and assault on the immediate family member of a federal official.
He was sentenced to 30 years behind bars on Friday, though prosecutors noted that he had not been granted the opportunity to speak at the hearing – a “clear error” by the court.
By federal rule, DePape must be allowed to speak if he wishes so that he may “present any information to mitigate the sentence,” court documents stated.
“At the May 17, 2024 sentencing proceeding, no party brought to the Court’s attention that it had not done so,” the documents read. “Nonetheless, it was the Court’s responsibility to personally ask Mr Depape if he wanted to speak. As the Court did not do so, it committed clear error.”
“The United States requests that the Court reopen sentencing for the limited purpose of personally addressing the defendant to permit him to allocute, and then pronounce the sentence and thereafter, issue the judgment in this case.”
The resentencing is due to take place within 14 days of the original hearing of May 17.
DePape testified at trial, where he admitted he broke into the Pelosis’ San Francisco home around 2am on October 28, 2022, and that he was set to take the then-speaker hostage and “break her kneecaps” if she lied to him.
He also admitted to striking Paul Pelosi, 82 at the time, with a hammer after police appeared at the residence. He said his plan to put a stop to what he saw as government corruption was coming apart.
The attack was captured on police body camera video and took place just days before the 2022 midterm elections. Ms Pelosi was in Washington DC at the time of the attack.
In a letter to the judge, Mr Pelosi outlined the attack, writing about how he was “awakened by a large violent man holding a hammer and zip ties” yelling “Where’s Nancy?”
“He kept me hostage in my own home saying he would wait for her,” he wrote. “He threatened me, saying he would tie me up and wait for my wife. He repeatedly said that he could ‘take me out’.”
Mr Pelosi later faced the blows of the hammer, leaving him unconscious in front of the police officers who responded after the then 82-year-old made an emergency call from a bathroom in the home. “When I awoke in a pool of my own blood, I had severe head, arm and hand injuries,” Mr Pelosi wrote.
During Friday’s hearing, Judge Jacqueline Scott described the incident as “completely unprecedented.”
Aaron Bennett, a spokesperson for Ms Pelosi, later issued a statement on behalf of the Pelosi family after the sentencing, saying that “the Pelosi family couldn’t be prouder of their pop and his tremendous courage in saving his own life on the night of the attack and in testifying in this case.”
“Speaker Pelosi and her family are immensely grateful to all who have sent love and prayers over the last 18 months, as Mr Pelosi continues his recovery,” he added.
