SAN FRANCISCO — A California judge on Wednesday ordered the release of pivotal evidence related to the October attack on former U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s husband, including a recording of his 911 call and police body-camera footage.

David DePape is accused of breaking into the lawmaker’s San Francisco home one early morning in late October and attacking Paul Pelosi with a hammer, fracturing the 82-year-old’s skull and causing other serious injuries.

A coalition of at least a dozen news organizations, including The Times, asked the court to order the San Francisco district attorney’s office to release copies of the records already submitted into evidence, arguing that the news media and public had a right to review them.

DePape’s lawyers opposed making that evidence public, saying it could jeopardize his right to a fair trial and stir up more misinformation about the case. The attack on Pelosi spawned a flurry of unfounded conspiracy theories online, including on popular social media platforms.

San Francisco County Superior Court Judge Stephen Murphy disagreed with those objections, dismissing them as speculation. He said that while the right to a fair trail is “certainly a legitimate concern in any case,” the court couldn’t withhold the release of records out of fear that they could be manipulated.

During a preliminary hearing in December, several pieces of evidence in the case against DePape were played or reviewed in court, including the 911 call, portions of police body-camera video, portions of the police interview with DePape and footage from a Capitol Police surveillance camera. Murphy ruled that prosecutors had presented sufficient evidence to move forward with a criminal trial. DePape has pleaded not guilty.

DePape, who attended Wednesday’s hearing wearing a black face mask, orange sweater and sweatpants and with his hair pulled back into a low ponytail, faces charges of attempted murder, assault with a deadly weapon, elder abuse, false imprisonment, first-degree burglary and threatening the family member of a public official.

In a court filing, the attorney for the news organizations had argued that the public and news media had a right to access the pretrial evidence submitted during the December hearing, and that because the records had already been played and reviewed and then reported on in the media, their release would not “identify sensitive witnesses or pose any privacy risk.”

DePape’s lawyers opposed making that evidence public, saying it could jeopardize his right to a fair trialand stir up more misinformation about the case.

Originally Posted By MattyMiscer⏩