A man who was sentenced to 30 years in prison in federal court for viciously attacking Rep. Nancy Pelosi’s husband with a hammer in their San Francisco home appeared in court Friday to be arraigned on state charges.
David DePape, 44, was convicted of taking hostage and attempting to assault her husband, Paul Pelosi, on Oct. 28, 2022, after he entered their home looking for then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
On Friday, San Francisco Assistant District Attorney Sean Connolly addressed the sanctity of the home in his opening remarks.
Prosecutors allege DePape viewed Nancy Pelosi as ‘evil’ and stored her personal information on a laptop
David DePape in Berkeley, California, on Dec. 13, 2013. DePape appeared in a California courtroom on Friday for the start of his state trial in the assault on Representative Nancy Pelosi’s husband, Paul Pelosi. (Michael Short/San Francisco Chronicle via The Associated Press/File)
“We are most vulnerable when we are asleep, and our elderly citizens are our most vulnerable,” he said. “Just think about it: It’s the middle of the night, at home, a man asleep in his bed.”
DePape’s attorney, San Francisco Deputy Public Defender Adam Lipson, told jurors that his client had isolated himself and been deeply engrossed in conspiracy theories in the months before the attack. He said DePape had no intention of killing Pelosi but “went on an irrational rant” as part of a misguided plan.
It also said Depape had been diagnosed with schizophrenia, a mental illness characterised by a lack of interest in social relationships.
“DePape lived in a garage without a bathroom in the San Francisco suburb of Richmond and spent most of his waking hours playing video games and surfing the Internet,” Lipson said.
DePape is charged in state court with attempted murder, assault with a deadly weapon, elder abuse, burglary, false imprisonment, threatening the life or serious injury of a public servant and threatening an employee or family member of a public servant. He has pleaded not guilty.
Paul Pelosi hammer attacker David DePape receives maximum sentence
House Speaker Paul Pelosi attends the unveiling of a portrait of his wife, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), in Statuary Hall at the Capitol on Dec. 14, 2022 in Washington. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite/File)
DePape admitted in his federal trial that he held Representative Nancy Pelosi hostage and intended to “break her kneecaps” if she did not admit to the lies she told about “Russiagate,” the investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election. She was not inside the house at the time.
In her closing arguments, one of DePape’s lawyers, Angela Chuang, said DePape was estranged from his family and obsessed with conspiracy theories.
The attack, which took place days before the 2022 midterm elections, was recorded on police body cameras. Pelosi suffered two head injuries, including a fractured skull, which he was treated with plates and screws but will have permanent scars. His right arm and hand were also injured.
Judge Jacqueline Scott Corey wrote in a filing that it was a “clear error” to not allow DePape to make a statement on May 17 before his sentence, as required by law, and this month DePape was resentenced to 30 years in federal prison.
“I am truly sorry for my mistake,” she told DePape and his lawyers, while DePape broke down in tears while reading from a prepared statement.
A screenshot of police body camera footage shows David DePape (left) embracing Paul Pelosi, husband of then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, at their home on Oct. 28, 2022. (San Francisco District Attorney/Distributed via Reuters)
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“I deeply regret the hurt I caused Ms. Pelosi,” DePape said in court, adding, “When I found out about this, I should have gone home.” Nancy Pelosi He said he “was not there” the night the couple’s home was attacked with a hammer.
In a written statement, Pelosi said her life had been “irrevocably changed” by the attack.
Fox News Digital’s Greg Norman and Michael Lundin and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
