SAN FRANCISCO (AP) 鈥� A man sentenced to 30 years in federal prison in the attack against former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi鈥檚 husband was convicted Friday of aggravated kidnapping, a conviction that mandates life behind bars without the possibility of parole.
A San Francisco jury found David DePape also guilty of first-degree burglary, false imprisonment of an elder, threatening a family member of a public official and dissuading a witness.
The convictions on the additional charges in the state trial come weeks after a federal judge sentenced DePape, 44, for the .
鈥淪peaker Pelosi and her family remain in awe of their Pop鈥檚 bravery, which shone through again on the witness stand in this trial just as it did when he saved his own life on the night of the attack," Pelosi's office wrote in an emailed statement Friday. 鈥淔or nearly 20 grueling months, Mr. Pelosi has demonstrated extraordinary courage and fortitude every day of his recovery.鈥�
DePape鈥檚 public defender Adam Lipson said he was disappointed with the verdict and plans to appeal it. He called the prosecutors鈥� decision to file a kidnapping for ransom charge 鈥渧indictive.鈥�
鈥淚t鈥檚 really unfortunate that it was charged this way. It was sort of a textbook vindictive prosecution,鈥� Lipson said. 鈥淎s soon as they found that the attempted murder charge was going to be dismissed, they added this charge.鈥�
San Francisco District Attorney Brooke Jenkins said at a news conference Friday that all charges her office filed against DePape were based on the same evidence.
The jury was 鈥渁ble to find that he was guilty and so there鈥檚 no need for any accusations of vindictive prosecution,鈥� she said. 鈥淲e鈥檙e simply trying to do our jobs to make sure that he was held accountable for every act that occurred that night that was criminal."
Lipson earlier argued that the state trial represents double jeopardy following the federal conviction. Even though the criminal counts are not the same, the two cases stem from the same act, he told the judge.
San Francisco Superior Court Judge Harry Dorfman agreed and of attempted murder, elder abuse and assault with a deadly weapon. Another judge upheld the decision on appeal.
Lipson said that the verdict means that after DePape serves 30 years in federal prison, he will be transferred to California 鈥渢o spend the rest of his life in a California prison.鈥�
Previously, a federal jury convicted DePape of assaulting a federal official鈥檚 family member and attempting to kidnap a federal official. On May 28, he was sentenced to during an unusual resentencing hearing that resulted from judicial error.
Lipson focused his closing arguments on explaining to the jury that prosecutors did not prove DePape kidnapped Paul Pelosi, who was 82 at the time, with the intent 鈥渢o exact from another person money or something valuable,鈥� which is integral to the charge.
Assistant District Attorney Phoebe Maffei told the jury in her closing arguments that DePape had planned to record a video of his interrogation of Nancy Pelosi.
Lipson argued the video didn鈥檛 exist and if it did, it wouldn鈥檛 have had any value.
鈥淲hen he broke into the Pelosis鈥� home his intent was to confront and potentially hurt and assault Nancy Pelosi. That was his intent at that time, that has nothing to do with Mr. Pelosi,鈥� he said.
In her rebuttal, Maffei pointed out DePape told a detective and testified in federal court that he planned to get a video of Nancy Pelosi confessing to what he believed to be crimes and post it on the internet.
鈥淭here is inherent value in a video of the Speaker of the House confessing to crimes in her own home,鈥� Maffei said.
The Oct. 28, 2022, attack on Paul Pelosi was just days before the midterm elections and . He suffered two head wounds including a skull fracture that was mended with plates and screws he will have for the rest of his life. His right arm and hand were also injured.
DePape admitted during his federal trial testimony that he planned to hold Nancy Pelosi hostage, record his interrogation of her, and 鈥渂reak her kneecaps鈥� if she did not admit to the lies he said she told about 鈥淩ussiagate,鈥� a reference to the investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential campaign.
Lipson told the jury during closing arguments that before the attack, DePape was living an isolated, lonely life and 鈥渨ent down the rabbit hole of propaganda and conspiracy theories.鈥�
from the public gallery and the second floor of the San Francisco courthouse because the judge said she was trying to tamper with the jury.
On Monday and Tuesday, Gypsy Taub, a well-known activist in the Bay Area, handed out pieces of paper outside the courtroom with the address of a website she runs that promotes conspiracy theories. The cards were also found in a women鈥檚 bathroom near the courtroom, where the website鈥檚 address was scrawled in marker on a wall.
DePape鈥檚 federal public defender Angela Chaung said during his federal sentencing that DePape was first exposed to extreme beliefs by Taub, who has two sons with DePape.
Taub met DePape in Hawaii when he was 20 years old and she was in her 30s and pregnant, DePape鈥檚 twin sister, Joanne Robinson, said in a letter to the federal judge seeking leniency.
Robinson wrote that Taub isolated DePape from his family and inflicted 鈥渆xtreme psychological damage鈥� on her brother.
Olga R. Rodriguez, The Associated Press
