69% Differ With Jury Verdicts : Reaction: A survey of 591 county residents also reflects their anger. An official says the disagreement crossed most major demographic lines.

A clear majority of residents in Ventura County--where the Rodney G. King beating case was tried--say they not only disagree with the jury’s verdicts but are angered by them, according to a Los Angeles Times Poll.

Because the jury pool was drawn from suburban, largely white Ventura County, residents here have been criticized as being insensitive to blacks and other minorities.

But the poll of 591 residents showed that they were almost as unhappy with the verdicts as people in the city of Los Angeles.

The survey found that 69% disagreed with the not-guilty verdicts delivered by the jury in Simi Valley, compared with 81% in Los Angeles. And a large majority of Ventura County residents--68%--said they were angered with the verdicts for the four police officers, compared with 76% who responded to a Times poll in Los Angeles earlier this week.

“There is no humanly possible way a jury could sit there and hear the testimony and see the tape and come up with the verdict they had,” said Anita Branch, 34, a white Ventura homemaker who was among those surveyed. “Some of the police officers who were on the scene were admitting that the officers were wrong. In that verdict, there was no concern for Rodney King or the wrong that was done.”

The poll, supervised by Times Poll Director John Brennan, interviewed the Ventura County residents Tuesday. It has a margin of error of plus or minus five percentage points.

Brennan said disagreement with the verdicts in the King case crossed most major demographic lines in the county. “Even those who identified themselves as conservatives disagreed with the verdict, as did those who said they have family or friends who are in law enforcement,” he said.

Among those who said they were politically conservative, six out of 10 said they thought that the jury had erred. Seven out of 10 of those with relatives or friends in law enforcement also disagreed with the verdicts.

Two-thirds of those polled said the jury should have included blacks to ensure a fair trial. Among conservatives, 64% agreed that blacks should have been included, while 73% of those who identified themselves as liberals thought that blacks should have been on the 12-member panel.

A plurality of 46% said they thought that the jury was biased toward the police officers, with 38% saying it was unbiased. In Los Angeles, nearly three-quarters felt that the jury should have included blacks; 69% thought that the jury was biased in the officers’ favor.

Overall, 45% of Ventura County residents polled said they disapprove of the way the trial was conducted, compared with 58% in Los Angeles County. Thirty-seven percent of those interviewed in Ventura County approved of the way the trial was conducted. But even a narrow majority of that group disagreed with the verdicts.

Despite general agreement with Los Angeles residents over the outcome of the King case, Ventura County residents expressed far more confidence in their county’s criminal justice system. They also expressed greater satisfaction with their law enforcement officers than those in Los Angeles.

For instance, when asked if they thought that the criminal justice system in their community is basically sound, 67% said yes, contrasted with only 31% in Los Angeles. And an overwhelming majority in Ventura County--84%--said they approve of the way law enforcement services are administered in their community.

Ventura County has a population of 669,000, with just 2% black, 26% Latino and 5% Asian. Residents were asked if they felt that they were incapable of judging a case such as the beating trial because they lack the understanding of the realities of urban life in Los Angeles. Three out of five rejected the suggestion, but a sizable minority--38%--agreed.

“The case should have been tried where it happened--L. A.,” said Russell Willis, a white resident of Thousand Oaks. “Out here, you have people who have come out to retire and are more elite.”

Russell Rodriguez, 38, a self-employed gardener from Oxnard, took issue with Willis’ position.

“I still think they would be able to impanel an impartial jury here,” Rodriguez said. “I still think that people around here can be fair-minded.”

Asked how many times they went into the heart of Los Angeles, 32% said they drove in on at least a monthly basis and 6% said they have never been into the central city area. Forty-five percent said they had lived in Los Angeles County at some point in their lives. One in 12 said they were born in the city of Los Angeles.

Just over half of those interviewed said they are angry over the criticism leveled at Ventura County as a result of the verdicts. Forty-two percent said they believe that the county’s image has been hurt somewhat, while an additional 25% felt that it was hurt a great deal.

“It already has had an effect on the image of Ventura County,” said Mary Embree, a 59-year-old white free-lance writer from Ventura. “I think it’s being looked on as having primarily white, middle-class and upper-middle-class people who have not had exposure to minorities and, therefore, they have a lack of understanding.”

When asked if they sympathized with the feelings of anger ignited in Los Angeles black communities as a result of the verdicts, 79% of those responding said yes. The same question drew the same response in Los Angeles.

Nearly half of those polled in Ventura County said they feel that the government is paying “too little attention” to blacks and other minorities. Fifteen percent said the government is paying “too much attention” to minority groups, while 23% said the government is paying “the right amount of attention.”

Six in 10 of the liberals said too little attention is paid to minorities, while about four in 10 conservatives said too little attention is being given.

Of those interviewed, 24% said they were either in law enforcement or had a friend or family member in law enforcement.

Overall, 55% said they felt sympathetic to the position of the jurors who decided the outcome of the beating trial.

The poll found that an overwhelming majority--80%--favor the U. S. Justice Department moving ahead with its investigation of whether the four police officers involved in the case violated King’s civil rights. This compares with 87% in Los Angeles who called for continuing the investigation.

Although 1990 census figures indicated that Ventura County residents largely live in segregated neighborhoods, this poll found 82% saying they either work, go to school or religious services with someone of another race. Nationally, only 70% in a 1991 Times poll said they interact with people of another race.

Times staff writer Phil Sneiderman contributed to this story.

THE TIMES POLL Two Views Here is a comparison between opinions of residents in Ventura County, where the Rodney G. King beating trial was held, and people in the city of Los Angeles. THE VERDICT

Do you agree or disagree with the jury’s verdict of not guilty in the Rodney King beating trial?

Ventura County Los Angeles City * Agree strongly 9% 8% * Agree somewhat 9% 5% * Disagree somewhat 12% 10% * Disagree strongly 57% 71%

THE ANGER

Would you say that you are sympathetic, somewhat sympathetic, not too sympathetic or not sympathetic at all to the feelings of anger in Los Angeles’ black communities that have been ignited as a result of the Rodney King beating trial verdict?

Ventura County Los Angeles City * Very sympathetic 38% 39% * Somewhat sympathetic 41% 40% * Not too sympathetic 6% 6% * Not at all sympathetic 12% 13%

THE BIAS Do you think the jury at the trial of the four police officers was biased in favor of the police officers, or was it biased against the police officers or was the jury generally unbiased?

Ventura County Los Angeles City * Biased in favor 46% 69% * Biased against -- 1% * Generally unbiased 38% 24%

THE SYSTEM Would you say that the criminal justice system in your community is basically sound or not?

Ventura County Los Angeles City * Essentially good 32% 7% * Needs improvement 35% 24% * Needs many improvements 10% 28% * Needs fundamental overhaul 15% 37%

NOTE: The Times Poll interviewed 591 residents of Ventura County, with a margin of error of five percentage points in either direction and, separately, The Times Poll interviewed 888 residents in the city of Los Angeles, with a margin of error of four percentage points in either direction.

NOTE: Numbers may not add up to 100% because “don’t know” responses are not shown.

THE TIMES POLL

County’s Views

THE IMAGE As a result of the Rodney King beating trial, do you think Ventura County’s image has been hurt or has the county’s image not been affected much one way or the other by the trial?

Helped some 1% No effect 29% Hurt some 42% Hurt a great deal 25%

URBAN LIFE Some people have suggested that most Ventura County residents are not capable of judging a case like the Rodney King beating case because they lack an adequate understanding of the realities of urban life in Los Angeles. Do you agree or disagree with that suggestion?

Agree strongly 20% Agree somewhat 18% Disagree somewhat 18% Disagree strongly 42%

THE JURY The jury that considered the case against the officers had no black members. In order to ensure a fair trial, do you think the jury needed to contain some black members or not?

Needed blacks 66% Did not need blacks 29%

THE VIDEOTAPE In your opinion, was the videotape in itself evidence enough to find the officers guilty of excessive force, or wasn’t the videotape enough to convict them?

Videotape was evidence enough 62% Was not evidence enough 32%

MINORITY GROUPS Do you think the government is paying too much attention to blacks and other minority groups, or paying about the right amount of attention to them, or do you think the government is paying too little attention to blacks and other minority groups?

Too much attention 15% Right amount 23% Too little 49%

LOCAL LAW ENFORCEMENT Do you approve or disapprove of the way the local law enforcement officers who serve your community are doing their jobs?

Approve strongly 53% Approve somewhat 31% Disapprove somewhat 6% Disapprove strongly 6%

OTHER RACES Thinking for a moment of blacks, whites, Hispanics and Asians, do you yourself currently work or go to school or go to religious services with a person or persons of another race or not?

Yes 82% No 9% Don’t work, attend school, etc. 8%

The Times Poll interviewed 591 residents of Ventura County, with a margin of error of five percentage points in either direction.

NOTE: Numbers may not add up to 100% because “don’t know” responses are not shown.

How the Poll Was Conducted The Times Poll interviewed 591 Ventura County adults by telephone May 5. Telephone numbers were chosen from a list of all exchanges in the county. Random-digit dialing techniques were used to ensure that listed and unlisted numbers were contacted. Results were weighted slightly to conform with census figures for sex, race, age and household size. The margin of sampling error for percentages based on the total sample is plus or minus five percentage points. Poll results can also be influenced by other factors such as question wording and the order in which questions are presented.