Medina Judged Competent to Stand Trial in 3 Killings

Five deputy marshals were needed to restrain Teofilo Medina Jr. after he reacted angrily to the presence of a photographer in a Santa Ana courtroom Tuesday, just minutes after a jury found him competent to stand trial for the murders of three convenience store clerks.

Medina, 43, tried to leave the 11th-floor courtroom after spotting the newspaper photographer sitting near the jury box.

“I said no cameras,” Medina shouted as he tried to head back to the holding cell around the corner from the courtroom. Superior Court Judge James K. Turner continued the brief proceedings with the deputies surrounding Medina and holding him in his chair.

Medina is accused of the execution-style slayings of four convenience store clerks in a robbery spree between Oct. 18 and Nov. 5, 1984. Three of the murders were in Orange County and are included in the formal charges. The fourth homicide was in Corona, in Riverside County, and will be included in the case only if Medina is convicted and the trial goes into a penalty phase.

Before reaching their verdict Tuesday, jurors heard four days of testimony in which Medina was described by one psychologist as a paranoid schizophrenic. But two of three doctors who interviewed him said he was competent to stand trial.

Evidence against Medina includes lab tests that show that his gun was used in all four slayings and reports that his car was seen outside two of the robbery locations. His lawyers have already informed the court that they expect to make an insanity defense.

Medina has disrupted proceedings several times during the seven-day hearing. On Monday, he kicked over the defense counsel table, and on another occasion, Turner lectured him about loud outbursts.

Two other times, Medina halted proceedings by refusing to be in the courtroom while a photographer was present.

One of his attorneys, Ronald P. Kreber, said Medina’s actions were an indication that he was not competent to stand trial. But the jurors disagreed.

It took them just an hour of deliberation to find him competent.

Judge Turner set a July 28 trial date. A second jury will be chosen then for the actual trial.