THE TIMES POLL : Most in County Still Unsure in Simpson Case

Despite three months of relentless, often sensational media coverage of the O.J. Simpson murder case, most Los Angeles County residents remain unsure of the football great’s guilt or innocence and most are confident he will receive a fair trial, according to a new Times poll.

Half of those surveyed last week said they have not formed an opinion on whether Simpson is guilty or innocent of first-degree murder, while a third are inclined to think he is guilty and one in seven believe he is innocent.

However, only 18% of respondents say they are certain of Simpson’s guilt, and just 9% are certain of his innocence, the poll found.

As jury selection begins today in what may be the most widely watched criminal trial in the nation’s history, the survey also depicts a public twisting about in the Simpson media hurricane: on the one hand complaining that it is repulsed by the saturation coverage, yet diligently tracking each new development.

And while there are clear divisions of opinion by race and gender, attitudes about the case appear at odds with the thrust of some of the political and social controversy that has attached itself to the legal battle.

For example, exposure to domestic violence does not appear to be a powerful influence in shaping perceptions of the case, contrary to what some activists have suggested. Women are more sympathetic toward the double murder defendant than men, and even those who have had close experiences with domestic abuse through family or friends are no more likely than others to view Simpson negatively, the poll found.

“There’s no apparent relationship (in the findings) to domestic violence,” said John Brennan, the Times Poll director, who noted that women report more familiarity with incidents of domestic abuse than men. “The poll does not indicate that personal experience with domestic violence is fueling the feelings about O.J. one way or another.”

Also, Los Angeles County Dist. Atty. Gil Garcetti’s much-debated decision not to seek the death penalty in the case does not appear to have damaged him politically, even among supporters of capital punishment. Fifty-six percent of respondents said he made the right choice, and the decision was favored across the board by men, women, whites, blacks, Latinos and Asians.

Clearly, there are racial dimensions to the case, in which Simpson, a sports and entertainment icon who is black, faces first-degree murder charges in the June slayings of his ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend Ronald Lyle Goldman, both of whom were white.

Overall, county residents are evenly divided in their attitudes toward Simpson--a pattern that mirrors Times’ findings in a poll of city residents taken shortly after the murders.

But blacks are far more sympathetic toward him, with more than two-thirds saying they are “very” or “somewhat” sympathetic. Only 34% of whites said they were sympathetic.

The Times Poll interviewed 1,703 Los Angeles County residents from Sept. 17 to 23. The margin of sampling error is plus or minus 3 percentage points.

As the case unfolds, the poll shows that African Americans are viewing the entire spectacle much more skeptically than whites or other ethnic groups.

Substantially more blacks than whites say they are certain Simpson is not guilty--28% for blacks versus only 5% for whites. And 46% of black respondents say they believe the court proceedings thus far have been biased against Simpson. Majorities of whites, Latinos and Asians say the legal proceedings have been unbiased.

Although 47% of blacks express confidence that Simpson can still get a fair trial, nearly one-third--far more than any other group--say they are “very doubtful” of this.

Beulah Fields is among them. She is troubled by what she sees as a natural bias in the criminal justice system against blacks. Simpson could not have committed the violent double killings without being detected and would not have dragged bloody evidence home with him, she said. “It seems impossible,” the 56-year-old Los Angeles Unified School District employee said.

The fact that Nicole Simpson was white has shaped the case from the start, she added. “If he had killed a black, I don’t think they would have gone through all this,” she said.

But Kim Hardaway of West Covina is among the plurality of blacks who are confident that Simpson will get a fair trial. “Both sides, the defense and prosecution, are doing their job to the best of their ability, using every skill they know how,” said the 35-year-old supervising stenographer. “Everyone wants to see it go the right way, however it’s going to go.”

Perhaps surprisingly--given the attention focused on Simpson’s record of spousal abuse--women sympathize more with him than do men. Almost half of all women say they are sympathetic to the defendant, contrasted with about 39% of men.

“Everything they have on him is circumstantial,” said respondent Deborah Ridimann, 34, a Lincoln Heights paralegal student. “They are making too big a deal out of it because he’s a celebrity.”

As for reports that Nicole Simpson had been abused before, Ridimann said: “It shouldn’t have happened . . . (but) you have three sides to the story. There’s his side, her side and the truth. Nobody knows the truth.”

One area in which most respondents are in sync is in their expression of disdain for the volume and unrestrained tone of the coverage.

Nearly 60% say they are “sick to death” of the case, and a similar majority says the news media have behaved irresponsibly.

If Simpson does not receive a fair trial, a third of those surveyed would hold the media most responsible--more than would place blame on any other factor, including racism, the jury system or the caliber of the prosecution or defense.

And Superior Court Judge Lance A. Ito, who has lashed out at news organizations on this theme and threatened to limit media access, seems to be expressing a popular view. Fully three-quarters of Los Angeles County adults favor a court order barring attorneys and expert witnesses in the case from discussing it with the news media for the duration of the trial.

But there are inconsistencies in all this weariness and public outrage.

Nearly three-fifths of respondents say they are closely following news of the case. And even 46% of the people who say they are “sick to death” of the story also indicate they are following developments closely.

“There’s a lot of anger and frustration about media coverage on this, but they are following it nonetheless,” said Brennan, the poll director.

That pretty much sums up the view of aerospace retiree Roger Lindstrom. “It just seems like it’s on TV all day long, and things are occurring so fast that he can’t get a really fair trial,” he said. “I mostly blame the media for that. . . . There’s just too much of it.”

Lindstrom does, however, keep up with the daily twists, turns and intrigues. “It’s like a soap opera,” he said.

Perhaps no one in the political realm has more at stake in how the epic legal drama plays out than does elected Dist. Atty. Garcetti.

Thus far, he is enjoying public support, despite a series of controversial steps, including the decision not to seek the death sentence and, earlier, a series of high-profile appearances and speculative comments on nationally televised talk shows.

Overall, Garcetti receives a positive rating by a margin of nearly 2-to-1, although there are no comparative measurements from earlier periods for the district attorney, who took office last year.

Women’s activists and other critics accused Garcetti of caving in to pressure from the black community by not seeking the death penalty. But the decision does not appear to have boosted his support much among blacks, the poll found. Blacks are his toughest critics, disapproving of his performance 44% to 27%.

Among whites, Latinos and Asians, far more approve of Garcetti than disapprove of him. The same holds true for women.

Still, not seeking the death penalty appears to have been a good political move overall, even though 65% of county residents support the death penalty in murder cases, the poll found. Even among those saying they are for capital punishment, only one in three favor it in Simpson’s case.

“Despite the general finding that most people favor the death penalty, it appears in this case they’ve made an exception for Simpson,” Brennan said.

HOW THE POLL WAS CONDUCTED

The Times Poll interviewed 1,703 Los Angeles County adults, by telephone, Sept. 17 through 23. Telephone numbers were chosen from a list of all exchanges in the county. Random-digit dialing techniques were used so that listed and non-listed numbers could be contacted. Interviewing was conducted in English and Spanish. The sample was weighted slightly to conform with census figures for sex, race, age and education. The margin of sampling error for the total sample is plus or minus 3 percentage points. For certain sub-groups the error margin may be somewhat higher. Poll results can also be affected by other factors such as question wording and the order in which questions are presented.

THE TIMES POLL: Views on O.J. Simpson

Most L.A. County residents remain uncertain whether O.J. Simpson is guilty or innocent. They denounce media coverage of the case, but are confident Simpson can get a fair trial nonetheless. Most back Dist. Atty. Gil Garcetti’s decision not to seek the death penalty against Simpson.

Based on what you know, are you inclined to think that O.J. Simpson is guilty or not of first-degree murder?

All* Men Women Asians Blacks Latinos Guilty (certain) 18% 21% 15% 24% 7% 16% Guilty (not certain) 16% 16% 16% 19% 6% 11% Not guilty (not certain) 7% 5% 8% 4% 9% 9% Not guilty (certain) 9% 8% 9% 5% 28% 9% Guilty (other charge) - 1% - - - - Don’t know 50% 49% 52% 48% 50% 55%

Whites Guilty (certain) 21% Guilty (not certain) 21% Not guilty (not certain) 5% Not guilty (certain) 5% Guilty (other charge) 1% Don’t know 47%

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Would you say that you are sympathetic or not toward O.J. Simpson?

All* Men Women Asians Blacks Latinos Whites Sympathetic 43% 39% 47% 39% 68% 49% 34% Not sympathetic 44% 49% 40% 54% 27% 37% 51% Don’t know 13% 12% 13% 7% 5% 14% 15%

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Are you confident or doubtful that O.J. Simpson will get a fair trial?

All* Men Women Asians Blacks Latinos Whites Confident 59% 65% 53% 53% 47% 61% 61% Doubtful 33% 29% 37% 35% 42% 33% 31% Don’t know 8% 6% 10% 12% 11% 6% 8%

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As a way of stopping leaks and limiting the extensive media coverage in the O.J. Simpson trial, would you favor or oppose a court order barring prosecutors, lawyers and expert witnesses involved in the case from discussing it with the news media?

All* Men Women Asians Blacks Latinos Whites Favor 76% 74% 77% 83% 78% 66% 81% Oppose 17% 17% 17% 11% 18% 23% 13% Don’t know 7% 9% 6% 6% 4% 11% 6%

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And do you think the news media have behaved responsibly in their coverage of the O.J. Simpson case?

All* Men Women Asians Blacks Latinos Whites Responsibly 27% 29% 26% 38% 23% 33% 23% Irresponsibly 59% 59% 59% 44% 65% 53% 65% Mixed feelings 8% 8% 8% 11% 8% 5% 10% Don’t know 6% 4% 7% 7% 4% 9% 2%

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So far, do you think the court proceedings in preparation for the murder trial of O.J. Simpson have been biased in favor of Simpson, or biased against Simpson or do you think the proceedings have been generally unbiased?

All* Men Women Asians Blacks Latinos Whites Biased in favor 12% 11% 12% 13% 5% 14% 11% Biased against 23% 25% 21% 13% 46% 28% 16% Generally unbiased 53% 56% 50% 63% 36% 49% 58% Don’t know 12% 8% 17% 11% 13% 9% 15%

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Do you approve or disapprove of the way Los Angeles County Dist. Atty. Gil Garcetti is handling his job?

All* Men Women Asians Blacks Latinos Whites Approve 45% 46% 43% 51% 27% 47% 45% Disapprove 25% 30% 21% 22% 44% 18% 26% Don’t know 30% 24% 36% 27% 29% 35% 29%

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Do you think Garcetti made the right decision or should he have sought the death penalty against Simpson?

All* Men Women Asians Blacks Latinos Whites Right decision 56% 52% 60% 54% 77% 54% 54% Death penalty 26% 32% 21% 22% 10% 26% 31% Don’t know 18% 16% 19% 24% 13% 20% 15%

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Has his decision not to seek the death penalty in the Simpson murder trial made you feel more or less favorable toward Garcetti?

All* Men Women Asians Blacks Latinos Whites More favorable 12% 13% 11% 14% 9% 19% 8% Less favorable 12% 15% 10% 16% 6% 13% 12% No effect 71% 68% 72% 60% 83% 61% 76% Don’t know 5% 4% 7% 10% 2% 7% 4%

* All refers to all Los Angeles County adults

Source: Times poll of Los Angeles County residents