SAN JOSE, Calif. — The man accused of breaking into House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s house two months ago and attacking her husband with a hammer appeared in court Wednesday to be arraigned on a slew of local charges in what prosecutors say was a brazen, wide-ranging suicide mission that targeted a mix of politicians and celebrities.
David DePape appeared in a jail-issued orange sweater, sweatpants and a black face mask on Wednesday morning, sitting quietly while his public defender entered a plea of not guilty on all counts in the late October break-in and attack.
DePape also waived his right to a trial within 60 days during the hearing, which lasted barely more than a minute. He is due back in court on Feb. 23, where prosecutors and his public defender will begin making preparations for trial.
The hearing comes two weeks after a San Francisco Superior Court judge ordered DePape to stand trial in the middle-of-the-night attack at the Pelosi residence in the city’s Pacific Heights neighborhood. He has been held in the San Francisco jail since late October on a wide range of charges, including attempted murder, false imprisonment of an elder, threatening the family member of a public official, battery causing serious bodily injury and dissuading a witness from reporting a crime.
Prosecutors allege that DePape broke into the Pelosi home shortly after 2 a.m. on Oct. 28 armed with a hammer and zip ties, according to testimony aired during an evidentiary hearing earlier this month.
Once inside, he found Paul Pelosi sleeping in his bedroom and awoke him with a question, prosecutors allege: “Where’s Nancy.?” and a demand to see the speaker of the House, who was in Washington, D.C., at the time. DePape later told an investigator that he wanted to take Nancy Pelosi hostage, break her kneecaps and wheel her before Congress — all to remind lawmakers that there were “consequences” for their actions, according to testimony at the mid-December hearing.
Paul Pelosi managed to call 911 during the encounter and summon police to the house. When officers arrived, they found both men holding on to the same hammer with one hand each. After one officer ordered DePape to drop the hammer, the attack unfolded in seconds, an officer testified.
Rather than give up, DePape cocked the hammer back, stepped forward and swung the tool at Paul Pelosi’s head, the officer testified — hitting Pelosi and knocking him to the floor unconscious, prosecutors allege.
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