State charges included kidnapping, first-degree burglary and false imprisonment of husband of Nancy Pelosi

State charges included kidnapping, first-degree burglary and false imprisonment of husband of Nancy Pelosi

The man who was sentenced to 30 years in federal prison for attacking the husband of Nancy Pelosi with a hammer in their California home was sentenced on Tuesday to life in prison without the possibility of parole following a separate state trial.

A San Francisco jury in June found David DePape guilty of charges including aggravated kidnapping, first-degree burglary and false imprisonment of an elder.

Before issuing the sentence, Judge Harry Dorfman dismissed arguments from DePape’s attorneys that he be granted a new trial for the 2022 attack against Paul Pelosi, who was 82 years old at the time.

“It’s my intention that Mr DePape will never get out of prison, he can never be paroled,” Dorfman said while handing out the punishment.

  • NocturnalMorning@lemmy.world
    58·
    8 hours ago

    “This is a man who has always been a peaceful, law-abiding person up until his activation,” Lipson said.

    When given the chance to address the court before his sentencing, DePape, dressed in prison orange and with his brown hair in a ponytail, spoke at length about September 11 being an inside job, his ex-wife being replaced by a body double, and his government-provided attorneys conspiring against him.

    “I’m a psychic,” DePape told the court, reading from sheets of paper. “The more I meditate, the more psychic I get.”

    And the attorney wants them to reconsider the sentence? Sounds like he needs some serious therapy, and institutionalized, not let out.

    • Billiam@lemmy.world
      422·
      8 hours ago

      “This is a man who has always been a peaceful, law-abiding person up until his activation,” Lipson said.

      Oh fuck all the way off, asshole. His brain was rotted from right-wing media- there was no secret hidden sub-programming which could be turned on with a code word.

      Also, fuck you again. Everyone is a peaceful, law-abiding person until they decide to break the law.

      • chonglibloodsport@lemmy.world
        2·
        57 minutes ago

        People with certain mental illnesses are far more susceptible to conspiracy theories and other such nonsense. It doesn’t excuse what he did but it’s important to recognize this. Our society is a much more dangerous place for these kinds of vulnerable individuals than it was before mass media, simply because of the huge amount of exposure they have to harmful materials.

      • TallonMetroid@lemmy.worldEnglish
        18·
        8 hours ago

        My understanding is that insanity defense has a very high bar, beyond what the public would commonly consider “crazy”, so it’s not actually something that happens often. And even then, actually getting out of whatever institution you’re remanded to isn’t guaranteed.

        • NocturnalMorning@lemmy.world
          7·
          8 hours ago

          I dont want to armchair assess too much, but reading a statement that involves your psychic powers, assuming that’s real, the guy is not mentally fit.

          • stoly@lemmy.world
            4·
            4 hours ago

            You have to be completely divorced from reality and really have no idea what you’re doing. This guy is a kook but knew that hitting old people with hammers is bad.

          • TallonMetroid@lemmy.worldEnglish
            14·
            7 hours ago

            I agree that the man is clearly off his rocker, but from a legal perspective, what matters is whether or not you understand that you have, in fact, killed a dude, and that this is in fact a bad thing. Having voices in your head telling you to do it is a completely separate issue. Again, this is my understanding as a layman, so any actual lawyers please feel free to tell me I’m full of shit.

            • GladiusB@lemmy.world
              1·
              4 hours ago

              Probably if he ever sought help. He was married at one point. Did it come up in the divorce? All these things can be a factor from my understanding.