community attitude survey - the wall street...

Community Attitude Survey

Southern District of New York

Conducted from November 17th – November 25th, 2008

United States of America v.

James J. Treacy

Prepared by

for

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I. Introduction

Our firm, Empirical Creative LLC, has been retained by Steptoe & Johnson LLP to conduct a Community Attitude Survey in the Southern District of New York to assess to what extent, if any, jury-eligible residents’ experiences and opinions about recent economic events has fostered negative biases toward senior-level corporate executives. The two principal investigators in this study from Empirical Creative LLC are David Klein, Ph.D. and James Dobson, M.A. David Klein has a B.A. degree in psychology from the University of Pennsylvania, a MA. degree and a Ph.D. degree in clinical psychology from St. John’s and is a licensed psychologist in the State of New York. Jim Dobson has a B.A. degree in sociology from St. Joseph’s College and a M.A. degree in sociology from Fordham University. As part of their educational curriculum, both principal investigators received extensive training in research design methods, survey questionnaire construction, and data analysis. David Klein and Jim Dobson have been working in the jury consulting field since early 2000. In their work as jury consultants, they are hired by law firms to conduct independent research analyzing jury-eligible residents’ opinions and attitudes towards case-specific issues and topics. The report of this Community Attitude Survey in the Southern District of New York is organized into three major sections: 1) a description of the Survey Methodology; 2) Results; and 3) Summary of Key Findings.

II. Survey Methodology

a) Study Design

Four hundred participants were recruited to complete the telephone survey. This number of survey participants was chosen to ensure that all the results of the survey (i.e., all the percentage figures) could statistically be generalized at a confidence level of 95% to the entire SDNY jury-eligible resident population within, at most, a range of ±5%. In other words, if, for example, 50% of the participants in this survey respond to a survey question in a certain way, we can statistically conclude that there is a 95% probability that 45-55% of the entire SDNY jury-eligible population will respond to that question in the same way. The survey utilized a dual-frame design consisting of a random digit dialing (RDD) sample supplemented by phone numbers randomly selected from directory listings. RDD is a scientifically rigorous method employed by social scientists to ensure that a representative sample that accurately reflects the population of interest is chosen. In a RDD sample, every published and non-published phone number from the geographic area of interest (i.e., in this case, the Southern District of New York) has an equal and independent chance for being selected. The RDD sample is generated by first determining all the residential exchanges and working blocks in a geographic area. For example, the New York County phone number, 212-234-7629, consists of a “212” area-code, a “234” residential exchange, a “76” working block and a “29” suffix. Within any

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given working block, there are a 100 possible two-digit combinations that can form the suffix in a complete telephone number. So, for instance, in the “76” working block noted above, the suffixes “00-99” can be added to form one hundred complete numbers (i.e., 7600-7699). All the residential exchanges and working blocks (times 100 suffixes) in a geographic area of interest are utilized to form the sample frame of all possible telephone numbers within which an RDD sample is then generated. The RDD sample is generated from this sample frame by dividing the sample frame by the number of RDD records desired to generate equal-sized sample frame subsets containing phone numbers, and then selecting one phone number at random from each of these equal-sized subsets. As a secondary safeguard to ensure that the survey participants accurately reflected the Southern District of New York (SDNY), the latest available Census statistics (i.e., 2007 American Community Survey) were utilized as a benchmark to establish quotas for participants’ county, ethnicity and age. Research suggests that ethnic minorities have higher non-response rates to surveys (e.g., higher refusal and non-contact rates) than their White counterparts. Our study showed this trend with Hispanic and Asian residents, and, accordingly, we supplemented the RDD sample toward the completion of study with a sample of phone numbers with Hispanic and Asian surnames randomly selected from directory listings to achieve the ethnic quota. This process involved utilizing a computer program to extract a sample frame of Hispanic and Asian surnames from the white page listings catalogued in the Info USA Database based on zip-code order. The sample is generated from this sample frame by dividing the sample frame by the number of records desired to generate equal-sized sample frame subsets containing phone numbers, and then selecting one phone number at random from each of these equal-sized subsets.

b) Criteria for Participation

In order to be eligible to participate in the survey, participants had to reside in New York, Bronx, Westchester, Rockland or Putnam counties. These counties were selected for the sampling frame because only jury-eligible residents who reside in these counties are summoned to the New York City Federal Courthouse for jury duty. In addition, participants had to be jury-eligible. Based on a review of the Amended Plan for the Random Selection of Grand and Petit Jurors In the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York from the US District Court Southern District of New York’s website, jury-eligibility is defined as follows: All participants were:

• 18 years of age or older • an United States Citizen • a registered voter • residing within the SDNY for at least one year • able to read, write, speak and understand the English language • able to be physically and mentally capable of participating as a juror

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All participants were not:

• currently charged with a felony • convicted of a felony without their civil rights being restored • an elected or appointed public officer of any federal, state, or local government

who are actively engaged full-time in the performance of public duties • members in active service in the United States Armed Forces • paid members of any governmental police or fire departments.

c) Survey Questionnaire

The questionnaire that was constructed for this survey contained three sections. A copy of the survey is attached to this report. 1. Introduction

The introduction section explained to participants the purpose of the survey, its anticipated length of time for completion and that they would not be personally identified in the survey.

2. Screening Questions for Eligibility

The second section asked questions to assess whether the participants were jury-eligible and resided in one of the five counties that are summoned for jury duty in the New York City Federal Courthouse. In addition, a few demographic questions were asked (i.e., gender, age, ethnicity) to validate that the sample achieved the quota specifications benchmarked by the latest U.S. Census statistics.

3. Questions on Experiences/Opinions about Recent Economic Events and Lawsuits

The final section queried jurors about their experiences and opinions about recent economic events and lawsuits.

d) Survey Administration

An independent data collection firm (i.e., RDD Field Services) was retained to telephonically administer the survey through the use of computer-assisted telephone interviewing (i.e., CATI) technology. CATI is a telephone survey technique in which the interviewer follows the survey script provided by a software application over a computer. The software is able to customize the flow of the questionnaire based on the answers provided, and the interviewer can code the responses directly into the computer. Telephone calls were made from November 17th 2008 through November 25th 2008. During the weekdays, calls were made from 5pm-9pm EST. On Saturday, November 22nd, calls were made from 1-9pm EST, and on Sunday, November 23rd, calls were made from 2-9pm EST.

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RDD Field Services performed real time validations and supervisor monitoring of its telephone interviewers. This process involved the supervisor or validations person from RDD listening to random interviews by logging into individual interviewers and simultaneously listening to the interview and following the entries made by the interviewer on the CATI screen to validate that the entries match the response. In addition, Empirical Creative’s principal investigators (i.e., David Klein; Jim Dobson) listened in on approximately 5 hours of telephone calls during the course of the survey administration to ensure that the survey was being administered appropriately.

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III. Results

a) Participants’ Demographic Characteristics

The demographic characteristics of the four hundred participants who completed the survey were as follows:

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The above demographic statistics show that the survey participants accurately represent the SDNY population. All percentages are within ±5%of the quotas benchmarked by the latest Census statistics.

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b) Experiences and Opinions about Recent Economic Events and Lawsuits

The results of the survey questions that asked participants about their experiences and opinions about recent economic events and lawsuits were as follows:

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* Responses to the above question are from the 387 participants who responded ‘Strongly Agree’ or ‘Agree’ to the statement “The United States is currently experiencing an economic crisis.”

* Responses to the above question are from the 96 participants who responded ‘Strongly Disagree’, ‘Disagree’ or ‘Undecided’ to the question “I have been personally affected in a negative way by the recent economic crisis.”

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IV. Summary of Key Findings

The survey data show that: 1. SDNY jury-eligible residents believe there is an economic crisis.

• 96.8% of the participants believe that the United States is currently experiencing an economic crisis.

• 96.8% have frequently heard or seen news reports about the economic crisis.

2. A majority of SDNY jury-eligible residents have been affected in a negative way by the economic crisis.

• 75.2% of the participants have been personally affected in a negative way by the recent economic crisis. Of those participants who reported that they have not been affected in a negative way by the recent economic crisis, a majority of them (i.e., 56.3%) report that they are concerned that at some point in the near future, they will become negatively affected.

• 71.6% of the participants know a close friend or family member who has been

personally affected in a negative way by the recent economic crisis.

3. A majority of SDNY jury-eligible residents blame senior-level corporate executives for the recent economic crisis, and are angry at them because of the crisis.

• 60.2% of the participants believe that the recent economic crisis has been caused mainly by senior-level corporate executives who have committed financial crimes.

• 74.2% of the participants believe that the United States is currently experiencing an

economic crisis because senior-level corporate executives have acted with greed and carelessness.

• 55.3% of the participants reported they have a lot of anger toward senior-level

corporate executives because of the role they have played in the recent economic crisis.

• 70.8% of the participants feel that their trust in the integrity and honesty of senior-

level corporate executives is at an all-time low.

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4. A sizeable minority of SDNY jury-eligible participant pre-judge the guilt of senior-

level corporate executives when they are accused by the United States government of committing financial crimes.

• 47.3% of the participants believe that if the United States government accuses a senior-level corporate executive of committing financial fraud, he or she probably did it.

• 29% of the participants believe that a senior-level corporate executive is definitely or

probably guilty when they hear that he or she has been accused by the United States government of committing financial fraud.

• 30.2% of the participants feel that even though they may tell a judge that they can be a fair and impartial juror in cases involving senior-level corporate executives who are accused of committing financial fraud, the current economic crisis will make it very difficult for them to presume that such defendants are innocent until proven guilty.

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