Widow of Slain Officer Assails Judge in Case : Courts: The wife of a Fullerton detective killed in drug sting says jurist implied that her husband had intended to rob the men charged with his murder.

The widow of slain Fullerton police detective Tommy De La Rosa stormed out of a courtroom here Monday after a judge implied that her husband, killed in 1990 when a drug sting went bad, had been there to rob the defendants.

“I walked out in tears,” said Leslie De La Rosa, who blamed her outrage on Superior Court Judge J. Kimball Walker for allegedly describing her husband, a decorated police officer, as “on the same level, if not lower, as those who killed him.”

On trial and charged with murdering De La Rosa and conspiracy to commit murder are Raul Meza, Jose Yuriar, 24, Jesus Araclio and Fredrico Marriott, both 40, all of Los Angeles County. They are also charged with trying to buy cocaine with intent to resell it.

Prosecutors contend that Meza, Yuriar and Araclio were the triggermen in the June 21, 1990, shooting outside a Downey home. They say the men had planned to rob De La Rosa of drugs he supposedly was going to sell them, then kill him. The three are also charged with lying in wait and committing murder during a robbery, both special circumstances that make them eligible for the death penalty if convicted.

Marriott, who was not charged with a special-circumstance allegation, faces 25 years to life in state prison if convicted on the murder charge. His attorney said he was never at the scene.

Walker, according to De La Rosa, who was in the courtroom with three relatives, compared the officer to the defendants during a morning hearing without a jury present.

At issue was the prosecution’s attempt to have De La Rosa’s informant testify, a move that was fought by defense attorneys.

The judge indicated that he agreed to suppress the testimony, because the prosecution had failed to show a relationship of the informant to the crime and to De La Rosa.

According to De La Rosa’s widow, Walker then implied that De La Rosa had intended to rob the defendants.

“I was very upset and outraged,” she said. “Since this trial began, I have sat in this courtroom dismayed at how one-sided, unfair, insensitive the judge has been. Today, he went beyond anything I could have ever imagined.

“My husband is not on trial here,” she said.

Walker could not be reached for comment. He has also imposed a gag order prohibiting attorneys on either side from discussing the case.

Fullerton Police Capt. Lee DeVore, who was briefed on the judge’s statements by someone who was at the trial, said he reacted with incredulity and intends to ask for a copy of the trial transcript.

“We had a very outstanding police officer, and I would like to verify what I’m hearing,” said DeVore. De La Rosa was the second officer to die in the line of duty in the history of the Fullerton Police Department.

In opening arguments, defense attorneys said that none of the defendants was guilty of the murder charges and that no one knew De La Rosa was an undercover officer.

In addition, they argued that the defendants were being used to divert scrutiny from the police department, which might have been responsible for the death of De La Rosa because of the way narcotics officers handled the covert operation.

The sting involved De La Rosa’s attempted sale of $4 million in cocaine. But when De La Rosa entered the Downey home, the defendants allegedly opened fire on him and killed him.