Defense to call witnesses in trial of man accused of attacking Nancy Pelosi’s husband with hammer

SAN FRANCISCO — Defense attorneys for David DePape, the man on trial for the attack of former U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s husband in the couple’s San Francisco home, will call witnesses Tuesday as they argue DePape is not guilty of the crimes he’s been charged with.

The trial’s third day will start with a final witness from the prosecution, and defense attorneys say they hope to wrap up their case by day’s end. The case would then go to jurors.

Prosecutors say DePape bludgeoned Paul Pelosi in the early hours of Oct. 28, 2022, just days before the midterm elections, and that he had rope and z ip ties with him. DePape has pleaded not guilty to attempted kidnapping of a federal official and assault on the immediate family member of a federal official with intent to retaliate against the official for performance of their duties.

Defense attorney Jodi Linker told jurors last week that she won’t dispute that DePape attacked Pelosi. Instead, she will argue that DePape believed that he was taking action to stop government corruption, the erosion of freedom in the United States, and the abuse of children by politicians and actors. She said that means the charges that DePape was trying to interfere with Nancy Pelosi’s official duties don’t fit.

Paul Pelosi took the stand Monday and recounted publicly for the first time what happened the night of the attack.

“It was a tremendous sense of shock to recognize that somebody had broken into the house and looking at him and looking at the hammer and the ties, I recognized that I was in serious danger, so I tried to stay as calm as possible,” he testified.

The Pelosis’ home has an alarm system with motion detectors, but Pelosi said he never put it on when he was home alone because his movements would trigger it.