Palm Springs Retiree Murder Trial Could Go To Jury Today

Jurors in the trial of two Bay Area men accused of seeking financial gain in the stabbing death of a Palm Springs retiree may begin deliberations Monday.

The trial has spanned 33 court days spread over more than two-and-a-half months.

Deputy District Attorney Lisa DiMaria is expected to offer her rebuttal argument to jurors who heard more than two hours of closing argument last Thursday on behalf of the older defendant, San Francisco attorney David Replogle, 61.

Also accused in the Dec. 5, 2008, killing of Clifford Lambert, 74, is Miguel Bustamante, a Guatemala born bartender who worked in San Francisco’s Castro District and lived in Daly City.

If convicted, they would face a life prison sentence with no chance of parole.

Several other men also face trial in what DiMaria told jurors was a “massive conspiracy” to loot Lambert of his worldly goods, and to “erase” him so he could not go to the police. He is believed to have been buried in the desert, but his body has not been found.

DiMaria has painted Replogle as the brains of the operation, but defense attorney John Patrick Dolan told jurors that Replogle is an empathetic man, devoid of avarice and generous to a fault.

Dolan argued there is no direct evidence to show that his client orchestrated a conspiracy from his Montgomery Street law office in San Francisco, and said Replogle fully cooperated with investigators.

Dolan placed the blame for the killing, and the greed that DiMaria claims motivated it, on Daniel Carlos Garcia and Kaushal Niroula, an acknowledged con man.

DiMaria has called the other defendants “vultures,” sociopaths and con men out to enrich themselves at a lonely and vulnerable man’s expense — literally and figuratively.

Dolan characterized Niroula, a Nepal native who once claimed to be descended from royal blood, a “chameleon” and Garcia as a computer hacker, burglar and identity thief. He said the “greed” theory is “spot on” with respect to those men, who are yet to face trial.

“I don’t think together we could say enough bad things about Kaushal Niroula,” the attorney said.

Dolan contends that Niroula, via text messages, had suggested that Replogle could get his neck cut, or could be the target of a hit unless he followed instructions, and that Niroula impersonated Replogle.

The lawyer, said Dolan, “was threatened, he was coerced, he was intimidated” by Niroula.

Unless it has been proved beyond a reasonable doubt that Replogle was not under duress, Dolan told jurors, he must be acquitted of the charges, which include murder, burglary, theft and forgery.

He told jurors that Craig McCarthy, who testified for the prosecution, participated in the Lambert killing but will get 25 years and four months when sentenced next month, and should be out in about 20 years or so, after serving 85 percent of his term. He will not face an indeterminate sentence that could have gone much longer, Dolan said.

“And he knows who gave (the lighter sentence) to him and who he owes,” Dolan said, suggesting that McCarthy’s testimony was tailored for the prosecution.

Dolan characterized prosecution witness-informant Arthur Jimenez as a “jailhouse rat” facing life in prison had he not testified against Replogle, and now expected to be out of prison in about 13 years.

He reminded jurors that in formulating a judicial analysis, a panel must start with no conclusion, just the presumption of a defendant’s innocence, and must not convict unless there is proof of the charge beyond a reasonable doubt.

He suggested that the district attorney had begun with a conclusion, and had ignored, ridiculed or rationalized counter evidence. He told the jurors that his client, who originally was expected to testify, was under no obligation to take the witness stand.

“They never proved their case, and he doesn’t have to get up there if they haven’t got a case that can be sustained,” he said.

He said the prosecution failed to show that Replogle ever called on anyone to have Lambert killed.

“There are no words out of David Replogle’s mouth that say, `Let’s go kill someone,”’ he said.

It is against that backdrop that DiMaria will frame her rebuttal argument.

Deputy Public Defender Joe Forth, who represents Bustamante, said his client is simply suffering guilt by association.