Man who allegedly attacked Paul Pelosi waives court appearance, future hearings set

On Friday, the man who is accused of hitting Paul Pelosi, the husband of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a week ago chose not to show up in San Francisco Superior Court.

A status hearing has been scheduled for November 28, and a preliminary hearing has been scheduled for December 14.

Depape is charged with six counts related to the attack, including attempted murder, burglary, assault, false imprisonment, and threatening a public official’s family member. He has entered a not guilty plea to all state charges.

Bail was not discussed at Friday’s hearing. Depape is being held without bail at the moment.

When asked by CNN’s Erin Burnett if Depape will seek an insanity defence, San Francisco District Attorney Brooke Jenkins said, “It’s unclear.”

“He Spelled Out Exactly What He Did And Why,” Jenkins said on Friday’s “Erin Burnett OutFront,” referring to Depape’s voluntary statements to police.

Jenkins stated that it is not uncommon for defence attorneys to investigate all possible defence strategies for their clients, but added, “I don’t think we can definitely say at this point that he didn’t know what he was doing.”

The heinous attack on Pelosi has been condemned on both sides of the aisle, and it raises new concerns about the safety of lawmakers and their families in the current political climate, which is characterized by increasingly hostile political rhetoric.

On Thursday, Nancy Pelosi announced that her husband had been released from the hospital.

“Paul remains in the care of doctors as he continues his long recovery and convalescence. He is now at home, surrounded by his family, who have requested privacy,” the House Speaker said in a statement.

Drew Hammill, a spokesman for Nancy Pelosi, said that after the attack, Paul Pelosi had surgery to fix a broken skull and serious injuries to his right arm and hands.

Pelosi was attacked with a hammer at her and her husband’s home in San Francisco. New disturbing details about the attack have come to light, such as the fact that the alleged attacker told police he was on a “suicide mission” and had a list of other well-known people to attack.

Court documents made public on Tuesday say that Depape woke up Paul Pelosi by standing over his bed and stopping him from running away while demanding to know where the House Speaker was.

According to a Tuesday court filing, Depape told officers and medics on the scene that he was tired of the “level of lies” coming from Washington, D.C., and “came here to have a little chat with [Pelosi’s] wife.”

During the hearing, it was revealed that Judge Loretta M. Giorgi previously worked at the San Francisco City Attorney’s Office with Pelosi’s daughter, Christine, in the 1990s. Giorgi stated that she has “not seen, heard, or spoken with Ms. Pelosi” since then.

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HImansh is a freelance writer and editor specializing in Public Relations, Culture, Politics and the intersection between them. He's a St.Xavier's College Graduate who has a degree in Public Relations. He's currently based in Chandigarh, India Word from Himansh: “If I was down to my last dollar, I would spend it on public relations.”