Man, 18, Convicted in Gang Slaying of Store Owner

An 18-year-old man who claimed that he was pressured by gang members into taking part in an attempted robbery was found guilty of murder Wednesday in the shooting death of a cash-checking store owner in Santa Ana.

John M. Richardson, formerly of Oakland, faces at least 27 years to life in prison for the convictions on counts of murder, robbery and attempted robbery, Deputy Dist. Atty. Jim Marion said.

Richardson was convicted in the May 2, 1988, murder of Philip Brower, 64, of Corona del Mar, who was shot to death in an attempted robbery at his Cash Unlimited store on Main Street in Santa Ana. In an exchange of gunfire, Brower shot and killed one of the would-be robbers, Jerald K. Roberts, 21, of Costa Mesa.

Richardson did not pull the trigger in the attack but took part in the planning of the robbery and provided the gun and the get-away car, prosecutors asserted in a two-week trial in Superior Court in Santa Ana.

In the trial, Richardson claimed in his own defense that he participated in the robbery only under duress from Roberts and Harley C. Curtis of Irvine, an alleged gang member who faces trial on murder charges.

Richardson’s attorney, Deputy Public Defender Daniel Bates, maintained that his client feared that “his own life was in danger” if he did not go along with the robbery plot. But jurors took just several hours Tuesday afternoon and Wednesday morning to reject that theory and convict Richardson of murder.