David DePape sentenced to life in prison for hammer attack on Paul Pelosi
David DePape sentenced to life in prison for hammer attack on Paul Pelosi
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.
“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.
“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.
Until they're caught breaking the law, anyway.
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.
Did they not try an insanity defense? He must have been declared competent, I guess.
I wonder if his psychic powers told him he'd be getting a life sentence
I honestly think there's a movement that believes if they deny reality at trial that the courts will just let them go because "oops! We can't punish a crazy person!" and then they'll never ever check up on them again.
I'm not claiming they're smart.
Yeah if it isn’t an act he should be not guilty by reason of insanity. He’s having capgras delusions for fucks sake. I do seriously worry about the increased spread of mental illness similar to his through stuff like qanon. We’re at risk of rule by the clinically insane. But yeah if he’s too crazy to know better he’s not guilty and needs institutionalization until such a time that his delusions are gone and he’s safe to return to society (with obvious parole style follow-ups)
Just think, voting for Trump means you’re voting in a pardon for this guy.
Life sentence is from the state charges. President can’t pardon that. But, yeah, he’ll pardon the federal charges if he gets the chance.
Bye asshole!
Prison-as-a-mental-healthcare-system should not exist. Of course, that would require leadership that is neither conservative nor neoliberal.
I prefer the well being of the rest of society to the violently unwell. That is to say I would basically sacrifice the offenders health, happiness and even his life for a 1% increase in the chance that he is never free to harm the rest of society.
How long before Trump calls him a patriot and a political prisoner?
My mind hadn't even gone here yet, so I wasn't ready, and I was appalled rather than just being quietly furious with certainty that this will happen, probably tomorrow.
He's a conservative hero. The next Republicunt president will pardon him and he will be treated like a star on the conservative talkshow guest circuit.
State charges can’t be pardoned by the president. The governor of California would be the one with that power.
Good riddance.
The justice department have become such pussies that I'm wondering what incorrect thing caused this correct level of sentencing to happen. Did he protest the genocide of Palestinians during his trial?
Taste the hammer of justice, scum.
Tastes like... pennies!
Hammer time!
Does this guy remind you of anyone? I can't put my finger on it.
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https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/oct/29/david-depape-sentenced-paul-pelosi-hammer-attack
The comments here are pretty gross. This guy needs help, instead you're happy to send him to the corrupt American prison system for the rest of his life. Please stop bootlicking and start caring for people.
I also despise the prison industrial complex and prefer rehabilitation over punishment, but there's a point where losses need to be cut.
He doesn't seem remorseful, and he's not going to seek help when he believes he is justified in beating an elderly man with a hammer. At that point, what options are left? it's immoral to involuntarily institutionalize and forcibly medicate individuals, and even if it wasn't, that's a slippery slope you don't want to go down.
I also despise the prison industrial complex and prefer rehabilitation over punishment
Uh huh. Sure. Let's find out how much.
but there's a point where losses need to be cut.
Ah, the answer was "not at all".
He doesn't seem remorseful, and he's not going to seek help when he believes he is justified in beating an elderly man with a hammer.
Okay.
At that point, what options are left?
Rehabilitation? Mental health care? All of the things that European countries do better than us?
it's immoral to involuntarily institutionalize and forcibly medicate individuals
But somehow in your book it's perfectly moral to lock them in a cage until they die? I'd take medication and institutionalization over being tortured to death any day.
and even if it wasn't, that's a slippery slope you don't want to go down.
Ah yes, the slippery slope of not throwing people away like pieces of trash. Would hate to fall down that one... /s
His mental picture of the world is pretty disrorted but at the same time he knew enough to know it was unlawful for him to take matters into his own hands and when the police showed up he had every reason to run or resist but what he chose to do is spitefully try to murder Paul whom he had no reason to hate or want to harm.
Basically you can be mentally unwell and evil and he pretty clearly is.
I don't care if an evil man gets help. Why should I. I care that he is incarcerated.
Of course protecting the public is the first priority, otherwise there just wouldn't be a justice system. But your willingness to label a person as evil keeps you open to calling whole groups of people evil (like say immigrants). That actually invites evil to yourself and society because 'prison is for evil people, I'm not in prison so I must not be evil' when in reality everyone is capable of evil and should always be guarding against those thoughts, not dismissing them as impossibilities.
There is a finite amount of help to go around. You think we should waste it on someone who is likely to kill again?
ITT: "Leftists" who love the police state and draconian punishments.
I don't know, I ain't no huge fan of the "law and order" types. But cracking an 80something year old dude in the head with a hammer is pretty fucked up.
A life sentence for attempted 1st degree murder isn't draconian. What would you have us do, set him free?
attempted 1st degree murder
Just making shit up...
He wasn't convicted of Attempted Murder. He was convicted of:
Federal: 30 years
- Kidnapping
- First-degree burglary
- False imprisonment of an elder
State: Life without parole
- Aggravated kidnapping resulting in bodily harm
- False imprisonment of an elder or dependent adult
- Threatening family of public officials
- First degree residential burglary
- Preventing or dissuading a witness by force or threat
Tell me you don't know what draconian means without telling me.
Yeah, seriously; is Dracula even involved in any of this?
