THE BUZZ: LEGAL GAMBIT — The legal team for David DePape — the man convicted of assaulting Nancy Pelosi’s husband with a hammer — is once again leaning into a Hail-Mary strategy. But legal experts are ultimately expecting them to fumble. This time, his attorneys are trying to use a procedural error on the part of Judge Jacqueline Scott Corley to block his federal 30-year prison sentence until his conviction can be appealed. On top of that, they insist a new judge reconsider the sentencing, alleging Corley expressed “strong views” about the case. The latest challenge has created yet another potential delay in the legal saga for the Pelosi family, as DePape’s separate state trial is set to begin next week. “The defense concerns are overstated, to say it mildly,” said Laurie Levenson, a former federal prosecutor and criminal law professor at Loyola Law School in Los Angeles. “This was an error, it was a technical error. I don’t think anyone should go about saying, ‘What a terrible judge.’” It’s not the first time DePape’s defense team has gotten creative: last fall, they tried to argue his 2022 attack on Paul Pelosi was “wholly unrelated” to the then-speaker’s official duties, and therefore a less serious offense. DePape’s attorneys now argue Corley violated his rights when she sentenced him last week without asking whether DePape wanted to address the court beforehand — a procedural error. She admitted the mistake and called a new sentencing hearing next week, but DePape’s team argues the court “cannot reasonably be expected to put its previously expressed conclusions aside to fairly and appropriately resentence” him. They also suggested Corley can’t be impartial because she remarked during sentencing that public officials, herself included, face a risk to their safety. In other words, his defense came in hot, according to legal experts like Levenson who’ve discussed the case with Playbook. But DePape’s defense faces a tough road ahead of his state trial, set to start Wednesday. He was convicted in the separate federal case last November on two federal counts for attempting to kidnap Nancy Pelosi and assaulting Paul Pelosi. DePape admitted, during his rambling testimony, to committing those acts as part of a plot to expose Democrats’ so-called lies about former President Donald Trump. He showed little remorse, saying he regretted his plot was foiled. That testimony could be used against him during his state trial and as he appeals his federal charges. His attorneys have objected to the notion of his state trial proceeding around the same time he’s hauled back into federal court for a sentencing do-over. The defense’s last-gasp effort might be understandable from a strategic standpoint given the tough case ahead, said Adam Gasner, a longtime criminal defense attorney in San Francisco. Still, Gasner doubted the strategy would make any difference in the outcome — even if it serves to drag things out further: “Ultimately, it’s clear that Judge Corley just wants to get it right and make sure that all of Mr. DePape’s rights are preserved.” GOOD MORNING. Happy Friday. Thanks for waking up with Playbook. You can text us at 916-562-0685 — save it as “CA Playbook” in your contacts. Or drop us a line at lkorte@politico.com and dgardiner@politico.com, or on X — @DustinGardiner and @Lara_Korte. WHERE’S GAVIN? Nothing official announced.
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