Judge Dismisses Attempted Murder Charge Over Attack at Pelosi Home
The New York Times
Defense lawyers used a double jeopardy argument, saying their client had been convicted in federal court for acts that are now the subject of a state trial. Other charges remain.
A San Francisco judge on Thursday dismissed some of the most serious state charges against the man who invaded Nancy Pelosi’s home and bludgeoned her husband with a hammer in 2022.
Judge Harry M. Dorfman of San Francisco County Superior Court granted a request from defense lawyers to throw out the charges of attempted murder, assault with a deadly weapon and elder abuse, according to a court spokeswoman. The defendant, David DePape, still faces five other charges, including false imprisonment, felony burglary and aggravated kidnapping.
Mr. DePape was convicted in November of two crimes in a separate federal trial: attempted kidnapping of a federal officer and assault on an immediate family member of a federal official. He was sentenced last month to 30 years in federal prison.
Mr. DePape’s defense lawyers in the state trial, which began last week, argued that prosecuting him again at the state level amounted to double jeopardy. Mr. DePape, they said, had already been convicted of crimes for the same acts for which he was now on trial.
After Judge Dorfman dismissed some of the charges, both the prosecution and defense asked for a pause in the case so an appeals court could weigh in. The trial is expected to resume on June 14, and Mr. DePape could face up to life in prison on the remaining charges.
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