A judge has dismissed state charges against David DePape, convicted on federal charges for attacking former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s husband, saying this would amount to double jeopardy. DePape received a lengthy jail sentence in May for breaking into Pelosi’s San Francisco home and hitting Paul Pelosi with a hammer.
Judge Jacqueline Corley issued the maximum sentence on several counts, including assault upon an immediate family member of a United States official and attempted kidnapping of a United States official. She told DePape that his violence was “gratuitous,” and this made him a dangerous individual whose actions could dissuade people from entering the political arena.
In the San Francisco Superior Court of California, however, Judge Harry M. Dorfman granted a defense motion to dismiss charges of attempted murder, assault of an elder, and assault with a deadly weapon. The defense attorneys argued that double jeopardy applied, and Judge Dorfman agreed.
Justice Department documents reveal that DePape took public transport to the Pelosi home on the evening of October 28, 2022, carrying a backpack containing items including a hammer, a sledgehammer, duct tape, zip ties, and rope. He intended to kidnap then-Speaker Pelosi and “break her kneecaps.” DePape had collected information files about the Democrat in an electronic folder entitled “favorite politicians.”
When he arrived at the couple’s San Francisco residence, he entered by breaking a glass door and found Mr. Pelosi sleeping on the third floor – Nancy Pelosi was not home. DePape woke Paul Pelosi while holding aloft a hammer and threatened to kill him. The Speaker’s husband kept his attacker calm and managed to sneak to a bathroom and call the police, after which he engaged DePape in conversation until they arrived.
Police body camera footage showed DePape and Pelosi standing at the home’s front door and captured the moment DePape swung at the 82-year-old, striking him over the head with a hammer. He will spend 30 years in a federal prison.
