By Tim Fang
/ CBS San Francisco
Justice Department speaks about sentencing of Paul Pelosi attacker David DePape
The man convicted in the 2022 hammer attack on Paul Pelosi apologized and was again sentenced to 30 years in prison Tuesday, as the sentencing hearing in his case was reopened due to a court error.
David DePape received the sentence, identical to the one he received earlier this month, after being found guilty of assaulting the husband of former Speaker Nancy Pelosi in their San Francisco home. DePape was convicted of assault and attempted kidnapping charges in November.
The hearing was reopened after the judge overseeing the trial made an error during the May 17 sentencing when she did not give DePape the opportunity to make a statement before sentencing.
Prosecutors noticed the mistake that afternoon and notified the court. DePape’s lawyers promptly filed an appeal.
Judge Jacqueline Scott Corley wrote at the time, “no party brought to the court’s attention” that it had not allowed Mr. DePape to speak, a requirement of federal criminal procedures. “As the court did not do so, it committed clear error,” she wrote. Â
During Tuesday’s hearing, which lasted only 25 minutes, Corley apologized for not giving DePape the opportunity to speak and put aside the sentence.
DePape then spoke briefly, apologizing for assaulting Mr. Pelosi and said she should have left when he found out that Mrs. Pelosi was not there. He also said that the call he made to a local television station from jail after his arrest was a “stupid immature call.”
After DePape spoke, the judge thanked him for speaking, explained the seriousness of the crime and resentenced him to the same sentence handed down previously.
DePape’s sentence consists of 30 years for the assault charge and 20 years for the attempted kidnapping charge being run concurrently. He was given credit for the time served for the 18 months he has been in custody.
As his federal case wraps up, DePape faces trial in state court. A hearing in the state case is scheduled for Wednesday.
Tim Fang is a digital producer at CBS Bay Area. A Bay Area native, Tim has been a part of the CBS Bay Area newsroom for two decades and joined the digital staff in 2006.
