PITTSBURGH A Pittsburgh man charged with fatally shooting three city officers will waive his right to a preliminary hearing at a brief court appearance today.

Richard Poplawski's lawyer requested today's morning court appearance in Pittsburgh City Court, Allegheny County court officials said. By waiving the preliminary hearing, scheduled for Friday, public defender Lisa Middleman acknowledges there is enough evidence to hold Poplawski for trial.

Poplawski is accused of lying in wait for officers Eric Kelly, Stephen Mayhle and Paul Sciullo when they went to his home after Poplawski's mother called 911 on April 4 to report an argument with her son. Police said the 22-year-old man gunned down the officers without warning as they arrived.

Poplawski was wearing a bulletproof vest and had an AK-47 assault rifle and other weapons, police said.

Nobody answered the phone at Middleman's office. The county court administrator announced the waiver hearing in an e-mailed news release.

The decision to waive the hearing comes a day after Middleman got a county judge to issue a gag order telling police, attorneys, potential witnesses and others involved in the case not to talk about it outside court or to release investigative reports and evidence aside from public records.

Middleman had sought the order, saying disclosures by police to the media would make it difficult to seat a jury.

"The district attorney and I share the desire to try this case once in the cleanest way possible," Middleman told Allegheny County Judge Jeffrey Manning on Tuesday.

Middleman had asked for such an order last week, but Manning held off because the officers' memorial services had yet to take place. The district attorney's office had also said it would advise police not to discuss the case.

Because information still came out, First Deputy Assistant District Attorney Mark Tranquilli said, the office joined in the request.

"We want this evidence heard by 12 citizens," he said. "We don't want this case to be tried in the media any more than it has."