Man who attacked Nancy Pelosi’s husband convicted again, faces life in prison

David DePape, the man who attacked US Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi’s husband, Paul, was found guilty on five charges in a court in California on Friday (Jun 21). He was also convicted of aggravated kidnapping which mandates life in prison without the possibility of parole.

About the recent verdict

The verdict on Friday comes weeks after DePape, 44, was sentenced to 30 years in prison by a federal judge after being convictedfor the violent attack in October 2022.

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A San Francisco jury, on Friday, found the 44-year-old guilty of first-degree burglary, false imprisonment, threatening a family member of a public official, aggravated kidnapping and preventing or dissuading a witness by force or threat.

DePape reportedly had no visible reaction as the verdict was being read in court and his lawyer, public defender Adam Lipson, later said that he plans to appeal it.

Also Read |David DePape, who attacked Nancy Pelosi’s husband, sentenced to 30 years in prison

Ahead of the trial, San Francisco Superior Court Judge Harry Dorfman dismissed three charges that the 44-year-old was facing – attempted murder, assault of an elder and assault with a deadly weapon.

This was after DePape’s lawyers argued that the state trial represented double jeopardy following the federal conviction.

The attack in October 2022 on Paul Pelosi, who was 83 years old at the time, left him with multiple injuries including a fractured skull for which he was hospitalised for nearly a week.

Paul Pelosi’s attacker was sentenced to 30 years in prison after being convicted of assault and attempted kidnapping of a federal official, by the San Francisco federal court, in May.

DePape, a Canadian citizen who has lived in the US for around two decades was found guilty of attempting to kidnap Nancy Pelosi, who was in Washington DC at the time, instead confronted her husband who was eventually able to call the police.

What now?

Lipson said he was disappointed with the verdict and called the prosecutors’ decision to file a kidnapping for ransom charge “vindictive.”

However, San Francisco District Attorney Brooke Jenkins said all charges her office filed against the 44-year-old were based on evidence and since the jury was “able to find that he was guilty” there was “no need for any accusations of vindictive prosecution.”

The public defender said the verdict means that DePape will serve 30 years in federal prison after which he will be transferred to California “to spend the rest of his life in a California prison.”

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Aaron Bennett, a spokesperson for Nancy Pelosi, on Friday, said that her family is grateful for the “kind thoughts and prayers they continue to receive,” but that they will “refrain from further substantive comment until sentencing is complete.”

DePape’s ex-wife removed from court

During the trial, the judge also removed DePape’s ex-wife, Gypsy Taub from the courtroom. The judge also barred her from the courtroom and the second floor of the courthouse for the rest of the trial after Dorfman said she attempted to tamper with members of the jury.

Taub, who has two sons with DePape, runs a website that promotes conspiracy theories and was found in a women’s bathroom near the courtroom.

(With inputs from agencies)