Murder Suspect Can Defend Himself In Court
One of five men accused in the financially motivated stabbing death of a Palm Springs retiree can act as his own attorney, a judge ruled today.
Daniel Garcia, 27, face a first-degree murder charge in the December 2008 death of Clifford Lambert, as does San Francisco attorney David Replogle, 60; alleged con man Kaushal Niroula, 28; Miguel Bustamante, 27; and Craig McCarthy, 30.
The men are also accused of forging a power of attorney document to empty the 74-year-old victim’s bank accounts and sell his million-dollar home.
Lambert’s body has not been found.
Riverside County Superior Court Judge David Downing ruled that Garcia could represent himself after the defendant waived his right to an attorney. He has had three lawyers since he was arrested last March.
Garcia is the second defendant in the case to be allowed to represent himself. Downing agreed in March to allow Niroula to act as his own lawyer.
Garcia, Niroula and Replogle are accused of hatching a plot to kill Lambert so that he could not contest forged power of attorney documents.
Investigators allege that Niroula let McCarthy and Bustamante into Lambert’s home on Dec. 5, 2008, and Bustamante stabbed the retiree to death.
The three allegedly loaded Lambert’s body into the trunk of his Mercedes- Benz and buried him in the hills in Fontana.
Lambert was reported missing two days later by a friend. Detectives went to his home at 317 Camino Norte and found the mailbox full and his silver 2004 Mercedes missing.
Following Lambert’s death, Replogle allegedly created a false power of attorney document that allowed the co-defendants to empty the victim’s bank accounts. They also allegedly tried to complete a quick sale of his $1 million home for less than $300,000. A judge later halted the sale.
Garcia was caught with Lambert’s debit card, which was used to withdraw money from one of the retiree’s accounts for a two-week period after the murder.
Bustamante was apprehended by police while emptying Lambert’s home, and he implicated the other men in Lambert’s murder, according to the prosecution.
