Federal Judge Grants Motion to Reopen Sentencing in David DePape Case for Allocation Utterance
The United States District Court has granted a motion to reopen the sentencing hearing in the case of David DePape, who was convicted for his 2022 assault on Paul Pelosi, husband of former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. The reopening is necessary to enable DePape the opportunity to speak before sentencing, which he was denied during the initial hearing on May 17, 2024.
In a motion filed over the weekend, it was acknowledged that federal rules necessitate the court to address the defendant personally prior to imposing sentence in order to permit the defendant to speak or present any information that may mitigate the sentence. Although no party raised this issue during the initial sentencing proceedings, it was the court’s responsibility to inquire if DePape wished to address the court. Since the court failed to do so, an error had occurred.
Federal prosecutors subsequently filed a motion to reopen the sentencing for “the limited purpose of addressing the defendant to permit him to allocute, if he so chooses, prior to sentencing.” The term “allocute” refers to a defendant’s formal statement made in open court before sentence is passed.
Although DePape was not obligated to make a statement during the hearing, records indicate that he was not given the chance to do so. Counsel for DePape opposed this motion and separately filed a notice of appeal regarding the “judgment and sentence entered in this matter.”
In November 2022, DePape was found guilty by a federal court in San Francisco on one count of assaulting a family member of a federal official and another count of attempting to kidnap a federal official. During the trial, DePape’s attorneys admitted that their client had assaulted then-83-year-old Paul Pelosi but contested that his motivation aligned with the charges against him.
Testifying in his defense, DePape revealed that he had intended to target Nancy Pelosi but discovered her absence at their San Francisco residence and attacked Paul Pelosi instead. He expressed surprise and confusion when informed of the congresswoman’s absence, stating that he had other targets but would attack Paul Pelosi if necessary.
Paul Pelosi underwent surgery to treat a skull fracture and injuries to his hand and arm following the assault. In court, he shared that his recovery process had been challenging.
A state case against DePape is anticipated to proceed to trial this summer, encompassing charges of attempted murder, burglary, and assault.
