A judge Saturday reopened a sentencing hearing for the intruder who bludgeoned Nancy Pelosi’s husband nearly 19 months ago, admitting that the court had not given the defendant a chance to make a statement.
David DePape was sentenced Friday to 30 years in federal prison for breaking into the San Francisco home of Pelosi, who was speaker of the House at the time, and attacking her husband, Paul, with a hammer. But it was a mistake to not ask DePape beforehand if he had anything to say, Judge Jacqueline Scott Corley acknowledged in a court order, setting a May 28 date to reopen the hearing to allow DePape to make a statement.
During Friday’s hearing, Corley wrote that “no party brought to the court’s attention” that it had not allowed DePape to speak, a requirement of federal criminal procedures. “As the court did not do so, it committed clear error,” she wrote.
The error is unlikely to alter the sentence, but DePape will now have the opportunity to make a case for a more lenient one. The error was noticed by prosecutors Friday afternoon, shortly after the sentence was read, and they quickly notified the court. DePape’s lawyers promptly filed an appeal.
DePape was convicted at trial in November of two federal crimes for the attack: attempted kidnapping of a federal officer and assault on an immediate family member of a federal official. On Friday, Corley imposed the maximum sentence allowed by law — 20 years for the kidnapping charge and 30 years for the assault offense, to run concurrently, with credit for time served.
Public defenders representing DePape had asked for a total sentence of 14 years, saying he had taken responsibility for his actions and that he had been manipulated both by his partner, who they said was abusive, and by online conspiracy theories.
Although DePape was not given the chance to speak, the court did hear from Christine Pelosi, a daughter of the Pelosis’, who read statements on behalf of her parents about how the crimes have traumatized the family.
Nancy Pelosi’s statement said that “our home remains a heartbreaking crime scene.”
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