Voice Lineups, Bias in Lineups, The Clever Hans Effect
From fellow inmates, Jason Russell Richardson learned about what he thought was a foolproof plan for executing a robbery. He decided a disguise would help.
As a man in white paper coveralls was entering the Tustin, California Home Depot by way of the Garden Center, he asked the employee at the cash register, Lucas Vocos, where he could find a manager. Possibly because the man was wearing a face mask of the kind that painters wear to protect themselves from spatters and fumes, Lucas did not hear him the first time so the man repeated the question. Lucas pointed out the direction of the manager’s office.
Because the man was dressed in white coveralls and had on yellow gloves and a bright yellow hard hat, another employee in the Garden Center, Dennis Malone, quipped to him “You know, you look like Donald Duck” but the man did not seem to be in a mood for humor and did not respond. Dennis noticed that the man’s face mask was cut and so he advised “Well, you need a new mask. They’re over in hardware.”
However, the man did not go over to the hardware section. Instead, he walked around, shuffling about in the Garden Center. Dennis asked if he needed any help. The man answered “No, I’m okay” and kept fooling with his mask. Dennis persisted and said “Well, are you sure? You look like, you know, you need a manager.” The man looked around and said “Well, do you see one?” Dennis said “No, I don’t see one, but I can get one for you.” Again, the man said “No, I’m okay,” so Dennis walked away. Then the man walked in the direction of the manager’s office, which was where the safe was located.
The manager on duty was Tom Egan, former Marine, married father of three-year-old twin girls, well-respected by other store employees. The man in the white coveralls approached Egan, pulled a handgun out of a black bag he was carrying and demanded money from the safe. As he pulled out the gun, there also fell from the bag a dirty old sock. Egan told the man he did not have access to the safe. As the man walked away, Egan followed him and pleaded with him to leave and not harm anyone, whereupon the man turned on Egan and shot him in the stomach.
The man stepped over Egan’s dying body and went to the Pro Desk, which is the area where licensed professionals such as contractors and craftsmen can check out with discounts. To Francisco Cerda, the employee at the Pro Desk, the man said “Give me all the money.” After Francisco handed him the money in the cash drawer, the man told him “There’s more. There’s more. Get all the stuff underneath. You have more.” In fact, there was a space underneath the drawer that had more cash.
The man in the white painter’s coveralls then took off running with about $500 in cash. Outside the store, a customer who was parked next to the robber’s vehicle saw him leave the store, get into a silver Ford Windstar van and drive away.
Police surveillance subsequently spotted the van, which was owned by a relative of Jason Russell Richardson, a thirty-seven-year-old ex-convict who was then on parole and living with his mother in the nearby town of Oceanside, California.
The hunt for Richardson was featured on the television show America’s Most Wanted. Richardson had spent much of his adult life in jail on convictions including robbery, burglary, spousal abuse, molesting a minor and rape. Evidently, Richardson did not see the show because he reported to his parole officer on schedule. When he reported, he was taken into custody.
Manager Egan was taken by ambulance to a local hospital, where he died about two hours later from internal injuries and bleeding.
Richardson was accused of murder in the first degree.
The Lineups
In order to demonstrate that Richardson was the man in the white coveralls, Detective Mike Van Cleve of the Tustin Police Department prepared both a photo lineup and a voice lineup. Because the subject was disguised, the voice lineup took on special importance in this case.