A California judge has nixed charges including attempted murder against the man who attacked Paul Pelosi.
David DePape, 44, was sentenced to 30 years in prison in May following his 2023 conviction on on assault and attempted kidnapping charges stemming from his Oct. 28, 2022 attack after an intrusion at the San Francisco home of Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi and her husband.
Wielding a hammer and raving, “Where is Nancy? Where is Nancy?,” DePape bludgeoned Pelosi, cracking the then-82-year-old man’s skull and causing injuries to his arms and hands. Body camera footage captured by the San Francisco Police Department showed part of the attack.
DePape, who had a list of other political targets and followed the QAnon conspiracy theory, was arrested at the scene.
During his federal trial, he admitted he planned to take Nancy Pelosi hostage, interrogate her and “break her kneecaps” if she did not admit she had lied about the “Russiagate” investigation.
After his federal conviction, local prosecutors moved to advance the state’s case against DePape. However, his public defenders argued the state trial would represent double jeopardy since the two cases stem from the same act, even though the charges are not identical.
A judge on Thursday dismissed the charges of attempted murder, elder abuse and assault with a deadly weapon. DePape is still facing charges of false imprisonment, residential burglary, threatening a family member of a public official, attempting to sway a witness and aggravated kidnapping, which were not charges during the federal trial.
The attacker will likely be deported back to Canada when he completes his sentence.
