Santa Clarita / Antelope Valley : Defendant Fails to Remove Judge : Courts: David Hooker, who faces death penalty for his alleged role in a fire that killed his adoptive father, charged bias.

A Littlerock man, accused of joining his stepmother in setting a fire that killed his adoptive father, made an unsuccessful attempt Monday to remove the judge hearing his case.

David Warren Hooker, 32, acting as his own attorney, filed papers alleging that Antelope Municipal Court Judge Ian R. Grant is prejudiced and should not be permitted to preside over Hooker’s preliminary hearing. Hooker said Grant is biased because the judge had told him he was foolish to represent himself in a death penalty case.

Grant ruled Monday that Hooker did not submit his papers on time and did not have sufficient legal grounds to disqualify the judge. Although he acknowledged that he had urged Hooker not to serve as his own attorney, Grant said he was not biased.

“I’ve bent over backwards to protect your rights,” the judge said.

Because there was insufficient time Monday, Grant ordered the preliminary hearing postponed until June 15. At that hearing, the judge must decide whether there is enough evidence to order a trial for David Hooker and his stepmother, Joy Girard Hooker, 50.

The two, who allegedly were lovers, are accused of setting fire to their Littlerock house on April 19, 1993, to collect insurance money. The two fled the burning house and rescued the family dog, but left Thomas Hooker, a 58-year-old retired LAPD officer who was legally blind and suffering from diabetes, inside to die, investigators said.

Hooker had often boasted that he was the inspiration for the 1980s television show “T. J. Hooker,” although the show’s creator denied it. Joy Hooker was his third wife.

Monday’s court ruling marked the latest delay in a yearlong effort to prosecute the Hookers on murder and arson charges. If convicted, the two could face the death penalty.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Ron Smalstig said he believed David Hooker was trying to use legal tricks to prolong the case.

Laizer D. Gould, the attorney for Joy Hooker, did not join the attempt to disqualify the judge. “Mrs. Hooker has been ready, willing and able to go to a preliminary hearing for some time,” Gould said. “She wants to get moving.”