David DePape, the conspiracy theorist who attacked Nancy Pelosi's husband, Paul, with a hammer and conspired to interrogate the former House speaker on video, was found guilty Friday of state charges related to the assault.
A jury found DePape guilty of five felonies in state court, according to multiple media outlets. The charges were the result of an attack that investigators described as the beginning of a planned “rampage” to go after high-profile targets, including actor Tom Hanks and Gov. Gavin Newsom.
He was found guilty of imprisonment, residential burglary, threatening a family member of a public official, attempting to influence a witness and aggravated kidnapping. The verdict comes seven months after he was convicted on federal charges for the attack.
DePape's social media accounts and interviews with friends and former coworkers detail how he began falling for baseless right-wing conspiracy theories. He wrote blog posts about several debunked conspiracy theories, including those popularly known as “Pizzagate” and “QAnon,” which posited large sexual abuse rings run by Hollywood and Democratic Party figures.
San Francisco District Assistant. Lawyer. Phoebe Maffei argued during the trial that DePape targeted Nancy Pelosi because of her role as House Speaker at the time, making her second in line for the presidency, the San Francisco Chronicle reported. She was not home during the robbery.
“We have not seen anyone make a plan to break into the home of one of our national leaders, take hostage and nearly kill that person's spouse,” Maffei told the jury, according to the Chronicle. “Fortunately this is unusual. But that's what happened.”
In November, DePape was convicted in federal court of attempting to kidnap Nancy Pelosi and assault her husband. He was sentenced to 30 years in prison.
Lawyers from the San Francisco public defender's office, which represented DePape, got several charges against him dismissed in the state case, arguing they were similar to those for which he had been convicted in federal court.
In response, San Francisco County Superior Court Judge Harry Dorfman dismissed charges of attempted murder, elder abuse and assault with a deadly weapon. Defense attorneys argued that the state's double jeopardy law prohibits defendants from being tried more than once for the same crime.
In his closing arguments, public defender Adam Lipson argued that his client could be guilty of false imprisonment, residential burglary and attempting to influence a witness. But, he told jurors, DePape should not be convicted of aggravated kidnapping and threatening a family member of a public official, the Chronicle reported.
Lipson reportedly argued that DePape's threats were not specific to Pelosi's role as Speaker of the House of Representatives, but rather to find and achieve other targets.
Conspiracy theories continued to play a role as the state trial came to an end this week.
On Tuesday, Dorfman banned DePape's former partner from the courtroom and the second floor of the building, the Associated Press reported. The decision came after Gypsy Taub, a nudism activist, handed out fliers outside the courtroom with links to her website, which promotes a number of conspiracy theories.
The day Dorfman kicked her out of the second floor, Taub's website address was seen on a wall and on a toilet paper dispenser in a women's bathroom at the courthouse.
Dorfman accused Taub of “attempt[ing]to corruptly influence one or more jurors” and ordered bailiffs to escort her out.
