ABSTRACT
A quiet afternoon in a pharm acy is disrupted by the sudden appearance of a young man w ielding a knife. In the presence o f six custom ers and two staff, he threatens a female em ployee with the knife, demanding: “ I want drugs. G ive me all o f your drugs and hurry u p .” W hile the pharm icist is unlocking the safe containing the controlled drugs, the intruder opens the cash register and removes all o f the money. He then moves to the back o f the pharm acy, and removes a quantity o f drugs. He flees from the store, after which the police are called. During the three minute period between the phone call and the arrival o f the police, three o f the patrons o f the pharm acy, who are acquaintances, have an opportunity to discuss the event with one another so that they could “ cem ent in their minds their description o f that horrible creature.” Two policem en arrive and begin to separately interview the witnesses. The police are unhappy, al though not surprised, to find a considerable discrepancy among the witnesses concerning the appearance o f the thief as well as the sequence o f events. In fact, the major consistency is among the three acquaintances. O therwise, the witness es are unable to agree on the height, w eight, clothing, and age o f the thief.
