There have been several outstanding questions about the Oct. 28, 2022 assault of Paul Pelosi, husband of former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) in their San Francisco home at the hands of hammer-wielding intruder David DePape.
Some of those questions may now be answered after a San Francisco judge ordered the public release of the bodycam footage of the officers who first responded to the scene and observed the assault as it occurred, Breitbart reported.
The judge also ordered the release of audio of the 911 call and other evidence and information in the case in response to a lawsuit filed by a coalition of media organizations.
Bodycam footage released
The order of San Francisco Superior Court Judge Stephen Murphy was fulfilled on Friday with the public release of the bodycam footage, 911 audio, and other information that had been sought by various media organizations.
In the video, the two responding officers approached the Pelosi residence, knocked on the door, and then waited around 15 seconds until it was opened to reveal both Pelosi and DePape standing in the entryway.
Both men had a hand on the hammer while DePape, wearing shorts and a pullover jacket, held Pelosi’s wrist with his other hand, and Pelosi, wearing boxer shorts and a dress shirt, held a glass of liquid and ice with his other hand. Both men also appeared to be smiling at the officers standing outside the doorway.
One of the officers asked what was going on and then ordered the two men to drop the hammer, at which point DePape said, “Um … nope,” as he ripped it away from Pelosi’s grasp, raised it high above his head and then swung down hard at Pelosi as the two men tumbled to the side and out of view of the officers.
It was at that point that both officers then rushed in and swiftly began to handcuff DePape while he lay atop an unconscious and bleeding Pelosi.
Attorneys for both sides opposed release of video, other evidence
According to Politico, one of the media organizations that sued for the release of the bodycam footage, also released along with that video was audio from Pelosi’s initial 911 call, audio from DePape’s initial interview with authorities, and footage from a nearby surveillance camera owned by the Capitol Police that showed DePape using the hammer to smash out a window and gain entry into the home.
The lawsuit to obtain all of that information had become necessary after both the prosecuting attorneys and DePape’s public defender had argued to the court that none of it should be released — despite all of that information being previously revealed in an open public court hearing in December.
Both sides asserted the possibility that the video could be manipulated if released to the public, with prosecutors suggesting it could taint the pool of prospective jurors and undermine their case, while the defense said it would fuel more “conspiracy theories” about the incident and generally undermine DePape’s right to a fair trial.
However, Judge Murphy dismissed those concerns as mere “speculation” and said, “I fail to see, in this case, how release of these exhibits will impact the defendant’s right to a fair trial.”
DePape is facing a slew of local, state, and federal charges in this incident, including attempted murder, that could land him in prison for the rest of his life if convicted.
