Judge's error scrambles case against Paul Pelosi attacker

A judge’s sentencing error has scrambled the federal government’s case against David DePape, who was convicted of attempting to kidnap Rep. Nancy Pelosi and assaulting her husband, Paul.

U.S. District Judge Jacqueline Scott Corley admitted she failed to ask DePape if he wanted to address the court before sentencing him to 30 years in federal prison over the 2022 attack last week and subsequently ordered a redo of the sentencing hearing to be held next Tuesday.

DePape’s lawyers are now fighting the new hearing that would bring him back into federal court, pointing out his parallel state trial over the attack is starting soon.

“The Court violated Mr. DePape’s rights when it sentenced him without inviting him to allocute,” DePape’s attorneys argued in a Wednesday filing to the court in San Francisco. “But it cannot now cure that error by disrupting his state trial and asking Mr. DePape if he has anything to say.”

The procedural failure adds a major layer of complication to the federal government’s case against DePape, which had been relatively straightforward from the start, with police body-cam footage capturing the assault. A federal jury needed one day of deliberation to convict him last year after a trial in which prosecutors also marshaled footage of DePape entering the Pelosi residence in San Francisco and transcripts in which he spoke of wanting to punish Pelosi and other Democrats.

DePape’s lawyers have already appealed his federal conviction and sentence to the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, arguing that requires Corley to hold off on any further actions until the appeal is resolved. Federal prosecutors, meanwhile, said in a court filing last week that Corley had 14 days from the original sentencing hearing to hold another court session to hear from DePape, if he wished to address the court.

The parallel state case overseen by San Francisco District Attorney Brooke Jenkins is underway, with a trial expected as early as next month. DePape's attorneys argue that hauling him back into federal court while that’s proceeding would violate his right to a fair trial.

If DePape must return to federal court, his attorneys argue, he must be resentenced by a new judge after Corley — who was appointed by President Joe Biden — expressed “strong views” about the case.

A representative for the U.S. attorney's office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Josh Gerstein contributed to this report.