SAN FRANCISCO — A jury on Thursday convicted the person who broke into former U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s San Francisco dwelling looking for to carry her hostage and attacked her husband with a hammer of federal costs of tried kidnapping and assault.
The jury deliberated for about eight hours earlier than discovering David DePape responsible of tried kidnapping of a federal official and assault on the fast member of the family of a federal official. He faces as much as 50 years in jail.
The assault on then-82-year-old Paul Pelosi that was captured on police physique digicam video simply days earlier than final 12 months’s midterm elections despatched shockwaves by the political world.
DePape, 43, admitted throughout trial testimony that he broke into the Pelosis’ dwelling on Oct. 28, 2022, intending to carry Nancy Pelosi hostage and “break her kneecaps” if she lied to him. He additionally admitted to bludgeoning Paul Pelosi with a hammer after San Francisco cops confirmed up on the dwelling, saying his plan to finish what he considered as authorities corruption was unraveling.
Defense lawyer Angela Chuang advised jurors throughout closing arguments that DePape was caught up in conspiracies. She stated he was motivated by his political views, not as a result of he wished to intervene with Nancy Pelosi‘s official duties as a member of Congress, making the charges against him invalid.
During her rebuttal, prosecutor Helen Gilbert said the defense had made a false distinction between the California Democrat’s politics and official duties and that DePape didn’t differentiate between the 2.
DePape, a Canadian citizen who moved to the U.S. greater than 20 years in the past, is also charged in state court docket with assault with a lethal weapon, elder abuse, residential housebreaking and different felonies. A state trial date can be set throughout a Nov. 29 listening to, stated Randy Quezada, a spokesperson for the San Francisco District Attorney’s Office.
Defense lawyer Jodi Linker argued that DePape believed “with every ounce of his being” that he was taking motion to cease authorities corruption, the erosion of liberty in America, and the abuse of youngsters by liberal politicians and actors.
During his testimony, DePape echoed right-wing conspiracy theories and advised jurors he had deliberate to put on an inflatable unicorn costume and file his interrogation of Nancy Pelosi to add it on-line. Prosecutors say he had rope and zip ties with him. Detectives additionally discovered physique cameras, a pc and a pill.
DePape testified that his plan was to get Nancy Pelosi to confess that she had been mendacity to the American individuals. “If she lied, I would break her kneecaps,” he stated. “The choice is on her.”
He stated he would then transfer to different targets, together with a girls’s and queer research professor who testified on the trial, California Gov. Gavin Newsom, actor Tom Hanks and President Joe Biden’s son Hunter Biden.
Paul Pelosi additionally testified, recalling how he was woke up by a big man bursting into the bed room door and asking, “Where’s Nancy?” He stated that when he responded that his spouse was in Washington, DePape stated he would tie him up whereas they waited for her.
“It was a tremendous sense of shock to recognize that somebody had broken into the house and looking at him and looking at the hammer and the ties, I recognized that I was in serious danger, so I tried to stay as calm as possible,” Pelosi advised jurors.
Pelosi recounted how he managed to name 911 with DePape wanting on, urging Pelosi to inform police that he was a buddy. Pelosi stated he tried to inform police what was occurring with out aggravating DePape.
Pelosi recalled being grateful when the police arrived, just for DePape to then hit him with the hammer. He stated he wakened in a pool of his personal blood.
More than a 12 months after the assault, he nonetheless hasn’t absolutely recovered, Pelosi stated. A neurosurgeon who operated on him testified that Pelosi had two wounds on his head, together with a fracture to his cranium that needed to be mended with plates and screws he can have for the remainder of his life. Pelosi additionally wanted stitches on accidents to his proper arm and hand, the surgeon stated.
DePape testified he thought Paul Pelosi was useless till he noticed he was charged by San Francisco prosecutors with tried homicide.
“He was never my target and I’m sorry that he got hurt,” DePape stated.
He advised jurors he believed information retailers repeatedly lied about former President Donald Trump. In rants posted on a weblog and on-line discussion board that have been taken down after his arrest, DePape echoed the baseless, right-wing QAnon conspiracy concept that claims the U.S. authorities is run by a cabal of devil-worshipping pedophiles. He repeated QAnon-like conspiracies throughout his testimony, referring to a cabal and the ruling elite and saying they’re eroding Americans’ liberty and permitting the abuse of youngsters.
DePape, a Canadian citizen who moved to the U.S. greater than 20 years in the past, is also charged in state court docket with assault with a lethal weapon, elder abuse, residential housebreaking and different felonies. A trial date for these costs has not been scheduled.
