Psychologist Says Murder Suspect Fit for Trial, Though Schizophrenic

Teofilo Medina, accused of four murders in a spree of convenience store robberies two years ago, sees himself as a possible “warlock, or a high priest, someone who has been in collaboration with Satan,” a psychologist testified at Medina’s competency hearing on Thursday.

But psychologist David Pierce termed Medina, 43, competent to stand trial, despite acknowledging that the defendant is a paranoid schizophrenic who hallucinates and has delusions and problems with stress.

“Violence is one of the ways he responds to stress,” the psychologist told the jury.

Jurors will decide next week whether Medina is competent to understand what he is charged with and is able to assist his attorneys in preparing his case. If so, a second jury will be chosen for a trial. If convicted, Medina could face the death penalty.

Two Outbursts

Medina interrupted Thursday’s hearing twice.

An outburst in the morning was cut off when Superior Court Judge James K. Turner ordered Medina to behave. Later, following a 15-minute break, Medina refused to return to the courtroom because a news photographer was waiting to shoot his picture. Despite coaxing from his attorneys and the bailiff, he refused to come out of the court holding cell. He then loudly banged his head on the wall until the photographer left.

Medina was arrested Nov. 7, 1984, after witnesses at an aborted robbery attempt in Santa Ana got the license plate number of a car registered in his name. County investigators determined that a gun in Medina’s possession was the weapon used in four killings in 1984.

Three of the killings are included in the formal charges against him: the Oct. 18 slaying of Haratio Ariza, 23, attendant at an Arco gas station and convenience store at 2940 N. Bristol St. in Santa Ana; the Nov. 4 slaying of Douglas Metal, 21, attendant at the Garden Grove Drive-In Dairy at 12811 Garden Grove Blvd., and the Nov. 5 slaying of Victor Rea, 20, attendant at the Gasco Gas Station at 6265 Newhope St. in Santa Ana.

The Oct. 19 slaying of Craig Martin, 18, attendant at an Arco gas station convenience store in Corona, is also included in the case against Medina. But because Corona is outside Orange County jurisdiction, it will be part of the penalty phase, if there is one, instead of the trial.

Earlier Prison Terms

Medina had been paroled to California from Arizona just three months before the robberies, where he had been in prison for seven years for kidnaping and rape. Before that, he had served a five-year sentence in California for a barroom shooting. Medina’s prison record includes two escapes and a series of violent incidents, both in prison in Arizona and at the Orange County Jail since his arrest.

His attorney, Ronald Kreber, and co-counsel James Stone brought on a forensic psychiatrist, Dr. Willard S. Gold of Waco, Tex., who told the jurors Medina is not competent to stand trial. But two court-appointed doctors, psychologist Pierce and psychiatrist Kaushal Sharma, disagreed.

Sharma’s interview with Medina at the Orange County Jail was cut off after 20 minutes when Medina became angry at Sharma’s comments and broke the glass partition separating them. But Sharma said he had gathered enough information to determine that Medina is competent to stand trial.

Pierce told jurors that Medina does not remember anything about the four shootings except having the gun in his possession. The psychologist said he did not believe Medina was faking memory loss because he also had a poor memory about less important things.

Pierce said that during his two interviews, Medina said he had visions of Jesus Christ and St. John in white robes and heard the voice of a dead brother.

Problems in County Jail

“He talked about a secret order or a higher power . . . of having a sixth sense,” Pierce said. “I think it is more likely than not that he really doesn’t recall some of the things he has done.”

Medina has had numerous problems at the Orange County Jail since his arrest. Jail records show that he was disciplined for crashing a television to the ground and, in a separate incident, making death threats against a jail deputy.

Medina was stabbed 32 times by an inmate last December when he came out of a shower room. Since then he has twice attempted suicide and has been kept in a padded cell for his own protection.

In the courtroom, Turner has threatened to shackle Medina to a chair if his outbursts do not stop.