Judge Rejects Slaying Suspect’s Request for a Closed Hearing

A municipal judge Monday rejected a request by a man charged with four counts of first-degree murder to have his preliminary hearing closed to the public and news media to avoid excessive pretrial publicity.

Judge James P. Gray turned down the request for a closed trial made by Teofilo Medina through his attorney, Ronald Kreber, on the ground that, thus far, there has been no publicity at all, let alone excessive publicity, concerning the preliminary hearing that began Feb. 13 in Central Orange County Municipal Court in Santa Ana.

Medina, 41, served five years at the California State Prison at San Quentin for firing a shotgun in a restaurant and after his release served another seven years in an Arizona prison for rape and interstate kidnaping, authorities said. He was released from the Arizona prison last August. He is accused of killing four people in separate robberies or robbery attempts at all-night gas stations or convenience stores in October and November, 1984.