Los Angeles California.- David DePape was convicted this Friday on five charges, presented by the State of California, for breaking into Nancy Pelosi’s house in 2022 and hitting her husband with a hammer.
The verdict in the state trial concluded a case that raised fears of politically motivated violence in a divided country and reflected some of the darkest currents in the country’s politics.
Years before the attack, DePape was immersed in online conspiracy theories such as Pizzagate and QAnon and the virulent rhetoric that right-wing figures have used for years against his opponents, including Mrs. Pelosi.
The conviction by a state jury in a San Francisco court followed convictions against DePape in federal court over the past year, resulting in a 30-year sentence.
This Friday, he was found guilty of first-degree burglary, holding an elderly adult against his will, threatening the family of a public official, kidnapping for a reward, resulting in bodily harm, and deterring a witness through force or threat.
DePape, who is 44, currently faces a life sentence without parole in state prison, which will be completed after he serves his term in federal prison.
During the course of the two trials, he and his attorneys never disputed the evidence against him.
In police interviews shortly after the incident in October 2022, he admitted that he entered Mrs. Pelosi’s home and attacked her husband, Paul Pelosi.
He did the same in a jailhouse interview with a local television station and from the witness stand at his federal trial.
His attorney in the state case, Adam Lipson of the San Francisco Public Defenders Office, told the jury in his closing argument Tuesday that the jury should find DePape guilty of only some of the charges.
He rejected that DePape was guilty of kidnapping Mr. Pelosi because he did not tie up the victim or try to obtain a reward.
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