Judge authorizes release of police recordings from assault on Paul Pelosi

A San Francisco Superior Court judge ruled that the media can release police audio and video recordings from the night Paul Pelosi was allegedly assaulted with a hammer by progressive activist David DePape. The body camera recordings from the officer who went to the home of the then-Speaker of the House of Representatives will be included, among other images.

Despite objections from DePape's attorney and the San Francisco District Attorney's Office, Judge Stephen Murphy accepted the arguments in the lawsuit filed by several media groups. In it, the media lawyers pointed out that these audiovisual should be accessible to the public since they were admitted as evidence during the preliminary hearing against the defendant.

Did Paul Pelosi open the door to the police?

One of NBC's local stations gained access to "a source familiar with the investigation who personally viewed the police body camera video." Several journalists analyzed the discrepancies between the statements presented by the DOJ and the San Francisco Sheriff's Office. According to the news station, the video shows San Francisco Police officers knocking on the door, despite the official version which said they broke it down, and that Pelosi himself "opened the door with his left hand."

The controversy generated by these types of contradictions is what DePape's lawyer used to oppose these recordings from being released to the public. Adam Lipson argued that releasing these images would contribute to the spread of more conspiracy theories and fake news about the case. Lipson also said he fears that possible tampering with the digital recordings will hurt DePape's chances for a fair trial.