SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Lawyers for the man charged in last year’s attack against former U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s husband want his federal trial to be moved out of San Francisco, saying intense publicity means he won’t get a fair trial.
David DePape is set to appear in federal court Wednesday. His lawyers will ask the judge to move the trial to the city of Eureka, neighboring Oregon. The federal trial is set to start Nov. 13.
His federal public defenders, Jodi Linker and Angela Chuang, say media attention on the case in the San Francisco Bay Area has tainted the pool of jurors. They said a survey they commissioned shows many potential jurors already believe he is guilty of the crimes and would be unable to change their minds.
Prosecutors say DePape broke into the Pelosis’ San Francisco home on Oct. 28 seeking to kidnap the former speaker — who was out of town — and instead beat her 83-year-old husband with a hammer. The violence sent shockwaves through the political world.