High profile murder case dragging on: Daniel Garcia’s sentencing delayed again, costing taxpayers

Daniel Garcia, who has been found guilty twice for the 2008 murder of Palm Springs art dealer Clifford Lambert has cost Riverside County taxpayers approximately $661,000 since October 2021, according to the Riverside County Executive Office.

Despite being found guilty twice, ongoing delays have been made in his sentencing. And that will continue this week, as his next appearance, scheduled for September 13, is expected to be delayed again.

What does that mean for you? More money coming out of your wallet. 

Let’s go back to 2002, San Francisco. Tyson Wrensch meets Garcia  — both charming young men, best friends with a love for travel and — the finer things in life.  They did everything together. vegas, helicopters, clubs.  

 “We always had a blast,” Wrensch said.

But then in 2007, things went south.

“I was in South America for a month and I went to an Internet café to pay my credit cards off and when I went online, all my bank accounts were empty,” Wrensch said.

Wrench said when he got home — he made a jarring discovery.

“Someone else had been living in my house. when I started going through everything, I discovered that they were Danny’s and so when I called him. He said oh I can explain everything. I'll call you right back and I never heard from him again," Wrensch said.

That's because Wrensch said his friendship with Garcia was built on lies.

“He was part of a three-man con team,” Wrensch said.

And so — Wrensch went to the police, but since he had taken too long to file a report, no action was taken.  

“This detective said to me, you know Tyson, we just don’t have time to deal with white-collar crime so until someone gets hurt, you know that that’s when we’ll get involved,” Wrensch recalled.

Until someone gets hurt, someone did get hurt. Someone was killed.

“Two years later and it ended up being true and believe me that I called those detectives and the bank robbery team and letting them know that someone had gotten killed,” Wrensch said.

The victim — Clifford Lambert — a successful art dealer who lived in Palm Springs. Lambert and Garcia had connected romantically online.

It was in 2008 that Garcia murdered Lambert with financial gain in mind.  Garcia was sentenced to a life term in 2012 

However— in 2021 — Garcia was granted a new trial based on an appeal sparked by the judge’s behavior… 

In Oct. 2023  — Garcia was found guilty again. 

The original sentencing date was set for November of 2023, but since then — it’s been delay after delay. It's Garcia’s claims like ineffective council and health issues that have caused delays. Some call them “excuses” or “loopholes.”

Now—nearly  16 years after Garcia killed Lambert, he still hasn’t been sentenced. His last delay was because he claimed he wasn’t given access to the law library.

His victims say he’s a brilliant con man who can hustle the system — even behind bars. Since Garcia’s retrial and second sentencing, the costs to taxpayers are racking up.  

“The costs for the defense of Daniel Garcia’s criminal case are approximately $661,000. This is a total cost since October 2021 and includes all costs for attorney’s fees and expenses,” said CEO of Public Safety

It’s been a pricey ride — because Garcia has waived his right to a speedy trial repeatedly.

Garcia’s trial and retrial is one that deputy DA Rodney Tethal says has been “extraordinarily long in its delays.” And he says the cost bleeds into court congestion and justice delayed for victims.

“Sometimes the defendants learn how to game the system, how to continually use every loophole possible to continue the case and continue the case and continue the case," Tethal said. "So why that is, it’s to build in fairness for the defendant, but like in every case, there’s always way people can exploit things that are built into protect and exploit those."

While this could be frustrating for taxpayers, the county, and the DA's office, the system is designed this way to protect defendants. Tethal explains that they have to be careful with this case, so that it doesn’t come back a third time. 

“The judge is being conned as well. Judge Villalobos is giving Danny way too much leeway, the residents of Riverside County are going to pay for another trial,” Wrensch said.