New Trials Sought by 3 Convicted of Killing Officer : Courts: Attorneys have filed motions based on new evidence they say was obtained after the men’s trial ended.

Defense attorneys for three men already convicted of killing Fullerton Police Officer Tommy De La Rosa filed motions for new trials Monday, claiming that a Los Angeles police officer committed perjury in their trial.

Raul Meza, 41, Jose Yuriar, 26, and Jesus Araclio, 31, all of Los Angeles County, have a right to a new trial based on new evidence obtained after their trial had concluded, their attorneys said.

De La Rosa died in a gun battle when a drug sting went bad on June 21, 1990. Jurors convicted the men of murder on Nov. 3, after prosecutors contended that the motive was robbery and that the defendants were unsophisticated drug dealers incapable of pulling off a big, $4-million cocaine deal involving 200 kilograms.

The defense had argued against the robbery motive, saying it was a high stakes drug deal that “blew up,” and that the fatal shootings were self-defense. The transaction went awry when someone pulled a gun, and in the subsequent gunfight, De La Rosa and Jose Rodriguez, one of the alleged drug dealers, were shot to death.

Any evidence showing “any connection” of the defendants to major drug traffickers would be crucial, said Michael S. Meza, Yuriar’s attorney.

“These guys were capable of doing big drug transactions. They knew how to because Jose Rodriguez knew some big people,” Meza said.

In his motion, Meza argued that a “direct link” did exist among a major Southern California drug trafficker and Rodriguez and the defendants. But that connection was denied in trial by Larry K. Broadhurst, a Los Angeles police narcotics detective, Meza said.

But Meza said that in an affidavit which accompanied a search warrant of suspected narcotics traffickers, Broadhurst stated that there was a link between a major narcotics trafficker and Rodriguez involving seizure of about 900 pounds of cocaine.

The motion claims Broadhurst committed perjury, and it concerned “an issue which was material to the defense.”

Los Angeles County Deputy Dist. Atty. Daniel Lenhart acknowledged in a telephone interview that Rodriguez did have one meeting with a major drug trafficker.

“But there was no connection between the two. . . . I don’t know what they’re getting at with this motion,” said Lenhart, who had not read the motion.

Lenhart said that search warrant language often uses broad terms in descriptions of possible suspects and their alleged criminal dealings.

“I will ask Broadhurst about this for my response to the court. But I don’t think any substance is there,” Lenhart said.

Sentencing for the three men had been scheduled for Monday. Instead, Norwalk Superior Court Judge J. Kimball Walker, who has the power to reduce the jury’s recommendation for life imprisonment, postponed the hearing until Jan. 21, to allow for a response from the prosecution.

The three men were spared the death penalty on Nov. 12, after the trial’s penalty phase.