Public Has Very Different Opinions of Different Players in O.J
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The @arris Poll THE HARRIS POLL 1995 #22 For Release: March 30, 1995 PUBLIC HAS VERY DIFFERENT OPINIONS OF DIFFERENT PLAYERS IN O.J. TRIAL MARCIA CLARK SEEN AS DOING BEST JOB OF LAWYERS AND F. LEE BAILEY THE WORST MOST PEOPLE BELIEVE DENISE BROWN AND DISBELIEVE ROSA LOPEZ Whites and A frican-Americans come to very different judgements about credibility of witnesses. By Humphrey Taylor The public generally gives Judge Lance Ito and Prosecutor Marcia Clark positive marks for their work in the O.J. Simpson trial. Majorities also give defense counsel Johnnie Cochran and Robert Shapiro positive marks -- but not as positive as Marcia Clark's. F. Lee Bailey, on the other hand, is rated 47% positive and 48% negative. These are some of the results of a nationwide Harris Poll of 1,005 adults surveyed between March 23 and 26. This Harris Poll also finds that majorities of the public tend to believe witnesses Denise Brown, Nicole Simpson's sister, and police officer Mark Fuhrman, and not to believe housekeeper Rosa Lopez. A modest plurality, but not a majority, tend to believe O.J. Simpson's house guest Kato Kaelin. Louis Harris & Associates 111 Fifth Avenue NYC (2121 639-9697 Views about the performances of lawyers and (even more strongly) the credibility of witnesses vary sharply between black and white Americans. African- d Americans are more likely to rate defense counsel highly and are far less likely to believe Denise Brown or Mark Fuhrman. Indeed, a massive 82%-10% majority of blacks do not believe Fuhrman -- which suggests that F. Lee Bailey's cross- examination, was highly effective with African-Americans in portraying Fuhrman as a racist. It is interesting that African-Americans and whites react to the lawyers more in terms of which team they are on than on their race. Black Americans rate all the defense lawyers -- white and black -- more highly than do whites; and they rate both Marcia Clark and Christopher Darden more negatively than whites do. This poll underlines the very different perceptions that most whites and African- Americans have about this trial. However, it does not answer the vital question of how black and white jurors are reacting to counsel and the witnesses. Humphrey Taylor is the Chairman and CEO of Louis Harris and Associates, lnc. TABLE 1A PUBLIC PERCEPTIONS OF JOB DONE BY JUDGE IT0 AND LAWYERS * "How would you rate the job each of the following is doing in the trial -- excellent, pretty good, only fair, or poor?" Pretty Only Not Posi- Nega- Excellent Good Fair Poor Sure tive* tive* + Judge Lance Ito % 26 40 23 8 3 66 31 Prosecutor Marcia Clark % 26 44 20 7 4 70 27 Prosecutor Christopher Darden % 8 42 33 8 9 50 41 Defense Counsel Johnnie Cochran % 16 41 30 8 5 57 38 Defense Counsel Robert Shapiro % 13 44 31 7 5 57 38 Defense Counsel F. Lee Bailey % 9 38 33 15 5 47 48 *Positive = excellent or pretty good **Negative = only fair or poor TABLE 1B PERCEPTION OF JUDGE IT0 AND LAWYERS -- BY RACE WHITE BLACK HISPANIC Positive Negative Positive Negative Positive Negative % % % % Judge Lance Ito 67 29 53 44 53 43 Prosecutor Marcia Clark 71 25 58 40 73 26 Prosecutor Christopher Darden 5 1 40 41 50 44 50 Defense Counsel Johnnie 55 40 71 25 50 49 Cochran Defense Counsel Robert 56 39 Shapiro Defense Counsel F. Lee Bailey 47 49 55 42 35 63 TABLE 2A CREDIBILITY OF KEY WITNESSES 'On balance do you tend to believe the following witnesses or not?" Not Not Believe Believe Sure Denise Brown (Nicole Simpson's sister) Police Officer Mark Fuhrman % 50 40 10 Brian 'Kato" Kaelin (O.J. Simpson's House Guest) Rosa Lopez (O.J. Simpson's Neighbor's Housekeeper) % 24 67 10 TABLE 2B CREDIBILITY OF KEY WITNESSES -- BY RACE WHITE BLACK HISPANIC Not Not Not Believe Believe Believe Believe Believe Believe Denise Brown (Nicole Simpson's 59 28 24 67 51 38 sister) Police Officer Mark Fuhrman 56 34 10 82 42 54 Brian "Kato" Kaelin (O.J. Simpson's 49 42 46 46 48 45 House Guest) Rose Lopez (O.J. Simpson's Neighbor's Housekeeper METHODOLOGY * This Harris Poll was conducted by telephone within the United States between March 23 and 26, among a nationwide cross section of 1,005 adults. Figures for age, sex, race, education and number of adults in the household were weighted where necessary to bring them into line with their actual proportions in the population. In theory, with a sample of this size, one can say with 95 percent certainty that the results have a statistical precision of plus or minus 3 percentage points of what they would be if the entire adult population had been polled with complete accuracy. Unfortunately, there are several other possible sources of error in all polls or surveys that are probably more serious than theoretical calculations of sampling error. They include refusals to be interviewed (non-response), question wording and question order, interviewer bias, weighting by demographic control data and screening (e.g., for likely voters). It is difficult or impossible to quantify the errors that may result from these factors. This statement conforms to the principles of disclosure of the National Council on Public Polls. Contact Louis Harris and Associates, Inc., Information Services, 111 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10003, (212) 539-9697, for complete demographic Idetails for the auestions in this release. COPYRIGHT 1995 CREATORS SYNDICATE, INC. ISSN 0895-7983 .