SAN FRANCISCO – The former nudist activist accused of striking House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s husband in the head with a hammer has been ordered to go to trial for attempted murder and other charges.

San Francisco Superior Court Judge Stephen Murphy ruled on Wednesday that local prosecutors have sufficient evidence to proceed, after hearing hours of testimony in criminal court.

The district attorney’s office called a police officer and investigator as witnesses and played police footage of David DePape assaulting Mr Paul Pelosi in front of his home in San Francisco.

Police said DePape, 42, broke into the Pelosis’ home early on Oct 28, aiming to take Mrs Pelosi hostage. She was in Washington at the time.

Instead, DePape found her 82-year-old husband.

Prosecutors played parts of an interview DePape gave to investigators from a hospital. The suspect, a Canadian, said he told Mr Pelosi that he had no intention of surrendering, the San Francisco Chronicle reported.

“I had threatened him a couple of times, but for the most part it was pretty amicable,” DePape said on the recording. But when he lunged at Mr Pelosi, he did so with “full force”, the Chronicle said.

San Francisco Police Officer Kyle Cagney testified that he was one of two officers who responded to Mr Pelosi’s 911 call.

“My partner said, ‘Drop the weapon’… He started to pull the hammer. Mr. Pelosi let go, and the man lunged and hit Mr Pelosi in the head,” Mr Cagney said, adding that Mr Pelosi was struck “very hard”.

Mr Pelosi underwent surgery for a skull fracture and injuries to his right arm and hands. 

Prosecutors on Wednesday showed body camera footage from one of the officers, the Chronicle reported.

DePape could be heard saying “Uh, nope”, after he was ordered to drop the hammer.

The US Justice Department said DePape intended to tie up Mrs Pelosi, one of the most powerful politicians in the US, and break her kneecaps with a hammer if she did not confess to Democratic “lies”.

DePape had tape, rope, zip ties and other materials with him.

The assault and attempted kidnapping came just days before the high-stakes midterm elections, with America’s febrile political atmosphere being regularly fed by outlandish conspiracy theories from national figures.

DePape “formed the intent early on to take out anyone in his way. Mr Pelosi got in his way in particular when he called 911,” said Judge Murphy. “He intended to kill Mr Pelosi when he got in his way.”

Besides attempted murder, the state charges against DePape include assault with a deadly weapon, residential burglary, elder abuse, false imprisonment of an elder and threatening a public official’s family member.

He has pleaded not guilty.

DePape’s lawyer, public defender Adam Lipson, argued on Wednesday that DePape’s attack was not premeditated.

“What ‘I’m going to take you out’ means isn’t completely clear,” he told Judge Murphy.

While DePape clearly thought through breaking into the home, “Mr. Pelosi was never a target”. It was only after the police arrived and Pelosi grabbed the hammer, that DePape reacted in the “spur of the moment”, said Mr Lipson.

If the state trial goes ahead, and if he is convicted, DePape would face 13 years to life in prison. BLOOMBERG, AFP