By Olga R. Rodriguez | Associated Press
SAN FRANCISCO — A jury on Thursday convicted the man who broke into former U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s San Francisco home seeking to hold her hostage and attacked her husband with a hammer of federal charges of attempted kidnapping and assault.
The jury deliberated for about eight hours before finding David DePape guilty of attempted kidnapping of a federal official and assault on the immediate family member of a federal official. He faces up to 50 years in prison.
The attack on then-82-year-old Paul Pelosi that was captured on police body camera video just days before last year’s midterm elections sent shockwaves through the political world.
DePape, 43, admitted during trial testimony that he broke into the Pelosis’ home on Oct. 28, 2022, intending to hold Nancy Pelosi hostage and “break her kneecaps” if she lied to him. He also admitted to bludgeoning Paul Pelosi with a hammer after San Francisco police officers showed up at the home, saying his plan to end what he viewed as government corruption was unraveling.
Defense attorney Angela Chuang told jurors during closing arguments that DePape was caught up in conspiracies. She said he was motivated by his political beliefs, not because he wanted to interfere 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 two.
DePape, a Canadian citizen who moved to the U.S. more than 20 years ago, also is charged in state court with assault with a deadly weapon, elder abuse, residential burglary and other felonies. A state trial date will be set during a Nov. 29 hearing, said Randy Quezada, a spokesperson for the San Francisco District Attorney’s Office.
Defense attorney Jodi Linker argued that DePape…
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