Man who attacked US house speaker Nancy Pelosi's husband gets life term on state charges
David DePape has been given a life term without the possibility of parole.
The man who was sentenced to 30 years in federal prison for attacking the husband of former House speaker Nancy Pelosi in their California home has been given a life term without the possibility of parole following a separate state trial.
The sentence was handed down on Tuesday, local time, and came after the state trial found David DePape guilty of charges including aggravated kidnapping, first-degree burglary and false imprisonment of an elder.
A federal jury also convicted DePape of assaulting a federal official's family member and attempting to kidnap a federal official.
He was sentenced to 30 years in federal prison in May, but all sentences will run concurrently.
Here is what we know about the case.
What happened during the attack?
The attack was captured on police body camera video.
DePape broke into the couple's San Francisco home in the early hours of the morning in October 2022.
Police said DePape gained entry through the rear door of the home, which was in the upscale Pacific Heights neighbourhood.
Paul Pelosi, who was 82 years at the time, was severely beaten with a hammer leading to a skull fracture and serious injuries to his right arm and hands.
Court proceedings revealed DePape was searching for Ms Pelosi, who was in Washington at the time of the attack.
Paul Pelosi suffered a skull fracture and serious injuries to his right arm from the attack.
DePape was a Canadian citizen who had been living in the US for years.
During his federal trial he admitted he planned to hold Ms Pelosi hostage and record his interrogation of her.
He told the court he planned to "break her kneecaps" if she did not admit to the lies he said she told about "Russiagate," a reference to the investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential campaign.
In online posts that were taken down after his arrest, DePape echoed rhetoric from the right-wing QAnon conspiracy theory.
The assault was just days before the midterm elections that year and sent shock waves throughout the political world.
Who is Nancy Pelosi?
Until Kamala Harris became vice-president in 2021, Ms Pelosi held the title as the highest-ranking elected woman in American history.
She served as the 52nd speaker of the house and made history in 2007 when she became the first woman to hold that position.
In November 2022, Ms Pelosi announced she was stepping back from her house leadership role but remained in Congress representing San Francisco.
She also played a significant role in advancing the policy agendas of Barack Obama and Joe Biden.
Ms Pelosi led the House in passing COVID-19 pandemic relief legislation, major climate legislation and the first federal gun legislation in decades under Biden's presidency.
Nancy Pelosi was the 52nd speaker of the house and was first woman to hold that position.
What happened at the sentencing?
Before sentencing DePape to life for the kidnapping conviction, Judge Harry Dorfman rejected the defence lawyers' arguments that he be granted a new state trial for the attack.
"It's my intention that Mr DePape will never get out of prison, he can never be paroled," Judge Dorfman told the court.
The judge later added he did not "feel sympathy" for the DePape, but instead felt sympathy for Mr Pelosi who was "lucky to be alive".
Defence lawyer Adam Lipson asked the judge to consider DePape's mental health and isolation that made him susceptible to online propaganda.
Before the punishment was handed down, Mr Lipson argued DePape was a man who had always been a peaceful, law-abiding person up "until his activation".
Adam Lipson speaks with the media after a hearing in 2022.
The defence said the state trial amounted to double jeopardy — or being tried twice for the same crimes.
While the judge dismissed some of the state charges, he kept others which were not covered by the federal case.
When given the chance to address the court prior to his sentencing, DePape spoke at length about September 11 being an inside job, his ex-wife being replaced by a body double and his government-provided lawyers conspiring against him.
DePape ignored the judge's offers to address the jury's verdict or the night of the attack.
In a letter read in court by the victim's daughter, Christine Pelosi, Mr Pelosi called for the maximum sentence.
He said the attack left him with bumps on his head, a metal plate in it, dizziness and nerve damage in his left hand.
'Justice has been served'
DePape did not express remorse for his actions at the federal sentencing, which he has done in prior court proceedings.
Judges in both hearings said they could not ignore the seriousness of targeting elected officials.
The Pelosi family say "legal justice has been served".
The judge said if an appellate court overturns his sentence of life without parole, he will ask that the case be sent back to his court for re sentencing.
In a statement after Tuesday's sentencing, the Pelosi family said legal justice had been served after a gruelling two years.
"Today's sentence of life without parole gives our Pop some measure of legal justice and, we hope, a message to others that political violence against elected officials or their family members will not be tolerated, minimized or condoned," the statement said.
"We must each do our part to build a peaceful democracy."
By：ABC(责任编辑：admin)
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