Pelosi attack suspect David DePape likely to go through psychological evaluation

SAN FRANCISCO (KRON) — Court experts say it is highly likely that David DePape’s attorney will request a psychological examination of his client — possibly as soon as Friday. That’s when DePape is expected to be back in court.

“If someone knows that their intended target is not there, someone with a rational mind would leave the premises, so they don’t get caught, but here, his statement was no, ‘I am going to stay, I am going to wait.’ He’s just completely in a delusional way,” said Dr. Julie Armstrong.

Armstrong is a clinical and forensic psychologist who has performed thousands of evaluations of incarcerated individuals to determine if they are mentally competent to stand trial.

“So when an evaluation is performed on someone with regard to an offense, the idea is were they able to understand what was happening at the time of the offense,” Armstrong said. “Are they having symptoms that interfere with reality?”

Armstrong is not in the pool of psychologists that could be tapped to examine DePape but says all evaluations follow similar legal guidelines.

Armstrong. “You are entitled to participate in your own defense,” Armstrong said. “But if you are ill, of course, that can’t happen.”

“We don’t want to prosecute people who are so mentally ill, they don’t know what is going on,” said San Mateo County District Attorney Steve Wagstaffe.

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Wagstaffe’s office is currently handling a case against a man accused of beheading his former girlfriend. He is undergoing a psychological evaluation.

If deemed unfit to stand trial, Wagstaffe says the suspect will be sent to a state hospital.

“They are gonna go to a state hospital, and here in the Bay Area, normally that is Napa State Hospital,” Wagstaffe said. “They will get meds; there is a court to go through the rules.”

Wagstaffe also pointed to the case of Malik Dosouqi who was convicted of murdering two people. Dosouqi stood trial after going through the program at Napa State Hospital.

“It isn’t that they disappear, they get away with it, they get held accountable if they are competent,” Wagstaffe said.

DePape made his first court appearance in San Francisco on Tuesday and entered a not guilty plea to all state charges against him. He is expected to be back in court Friday.

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