A California judge ordered Wednesday the release of video footage captured at Paul Pelosi’s residence during a late October home break-in and attack that left Pelosi with a fractured skull. Multiple news outlets filed lawsuits asking for the evidence to be released, despite objections from prosecutors and defense attorneys.
Paul Pelosi is the husband of Rep. Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., the former U.S. House speaker.
A San Francisco district attorney must now publicly release the police officer body camera videos, the audio of the 911 call and home security videos of the attack at the Pelosi home.
David DePape, 42, is accused of assault, attempted murder and other federal crimes. He has pleaded not guilty. According to The Associated Press, DePape’s defense attorneys argued that releasing the footage to the public would deprive their client of a fair trial.
But Superior Court Judge Stephen Murphy was not persuaded by that argument since the audio and footage had already been presented at a preliminary hearing last month that was open to reporters and the public.
It is not clear when the videos will be made public. However, media reports indicate Murphy directed the court clerk to hand out copies of the material to news outlets in the coming days.
DePape is alleged to have broken into the Pelosi residence in San Francisco last October. Court documents say he was carrying zip ties and a hammer when he woke Paul Pelosi, asking “Where’s Nancy?”
Pelosi managed to call 911 but talked cryptically to the operator so as not to enrage his assailant. The police body camera video is expected to show what officers saw when Pelosi opened the front door and the assailant attacked him with the hammer.
Pelosi had to undergo surgery “to repair a skull fracture and serious injuries to his right arm and hands” shortly after the incident, according to a statement released to the media.
The San Francisco Police arrested and interviewed DePape, where he “stated that he was going to hold Nancy hostage and talk to her,” according to a federal complaint file.
“If Nancy were to tell DePape the ‘truth,’ he would let her go, and if she ‘lied,’ he was going to break ‘her kneecaps,’” he told police according to the document. “DePape was certain that Nancy would not have told the ‘truth.’”
The filing said DePape viewed Nancy Pelosi as “the ‘leader of the pack’ of lies told by the Democratic Party.”
“DePape also later explained that by breaking Nancy’s kneecaps, she would then have to be wheeled into Congress, which would show other Members of Congress there were consequences to actions,” the federal complaint said.