Paul Pelosi released from hospital after hammer attack

U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi says her husband, Paul Pelosi, was released from the hospital Thursday after his treatment for injuries from a violent assault last week.

In a statement, Nancy Pelosi said: "Paul remains under doctors' care as he continues to progress on a long recovery process and convalescence. He is now home."

Meanwhile, the Canadian man accused of breaking into the couple's home and attacking Paul Pelosi should have been flagged by immigration officials and blocked from getting back into the U.S. after overstaying his authorized entry more than two decades ago, a federal official said Thursday.

David DePape, 42, legally entered the United States in 2000 and later left the country and returned a few times, including entering in March 2008 at San Diego's San Ysidro border crossing, said a U.S. official who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the matter.

Most Canadians are not required to obtain a visa to enter the U.S. as tourists and can stay for up to six months. The official said it was unclear why U.S. authorities admitted DePape after he overstayed his entry in 2000.

The Department of Homeland Security did not immediately respond to questions about DePape's entry to the United States after he violated immigration law. It acknowledged in a statement that DePape was allowed into San Diego from Tijuana on March 8, 2008, but didn't address any other entries.

San Francisco police said DePape confronted Paul Pelosi in the family's Pacific Heights home Oct. 28 and demanded to know where the House Speaker was.

Criminal case to continue Friday

DePape pleaded not guilty to state charges on Tuesday and was ordered held without bail. His public defender, Adam Lipson, said he looks forward to providing him with a "vigorous legal defence."

DePape faces state charges of attempted murder, burglary and elder abuse. He also faces federal charges including attempted kidnapping of a U.S. official. His state case will continue Friday, though the defendant will not appear in the courtroom. An arraignment on federal charges has not been scheduled.

In the state court filing, prosecutors detailed the attack in stark terms, saying Paul Pelosi, 82, was knocked unconscious by the hammer attack and woke up in a pool of his own blood.

Two officers who raced to the home after Paul Pelosi called 911 witnessed DePape hit him with the hammer at least once, striking him in the head, according to court documents. Officials said the assault was captured on the officers' body cameras.

DePape grew up in Powell River, British Columbia, but relocated to California to be with a girlfriend, stepfather Gene DePape told The Associated Press last week. He has three children with two women, he said. Gene DePape said the suspect had lived with him in Canada until he was 14 and had been a quiet boy.

DePape's ex-girlfriend, Bay Area nudist activist Oxane "Gypsy" Taub, told the San Francisco Chronicle she met DePape in Hawaii in 2000. The pair lived in Berkeley and had two children during their 15-year relationship.

Overstayer concerns

There were 684,499 visa overstays from October 2019 through September 2020 among visitors who arrived by plane or ship. The total number of overstays is much larger but has not been quantified because it doesn't include how many people arrive by land, the primary way for Canadians and Mexicans to enter the United States.

The cost and technological hurdles to develop a checkout system at congested land crossings with Canada and Mexico are enormous. In the 12-month period through September 2020, more than 52,000 Canadians who came to the U.S. by air or sea had overstayed their legally authorized entry.

Despite the challenges, the U.S. official said DePape's overstay should have been noted in immigration records, which, in theory, should have prevented authorities from admitting him.