07
Nov 2023
Fulton County Trump Trial
Demographics and Voting History
The racial makeup and recent voting patterns of the online survey sample accurately reflect the characteristics of Fulton County. Within our survey, we also asked respondents which candidates they voted for in the 2020 and 2016 presidential elections, the 2020 Georgia Gubernatorial election and the two 2020 Senate run-offs. The similarities between our sample of 363 Fulton County respondents and the final tallies in these races give us confidence we can generalize from our sample to the county at large.
Survey Results
Source of News
As the numbers below show, a plurality of potential jurors in Fulton County gets their news from national news outlets, with many other sources the primary origin for news.
Which is your primary source of news?
14% National newspaper/their website (such as USA Today, The WSJ or NYTimes)
6% Local newspaper or their website
25% National TV newscast or their website (such as NBC, ABC, CBS or PBS)
17% 24-hour TV news station or their website (such as FOX News or CNN)
2% Talk-radio program or their website
2% Radio station newscast or their website
21% Social media outlets (such as Facebook or Twitter)
4% Talking with friends or relatives
4% Other internet website or blog
4% Other
Of the following cable news networks which one do you trust most for reliable and accurate news?
34% CNN
28% Fox News
12% MSNBC
26% None of the Above
Fulton County residents were asked to rate the following on their honesty, using a scale from “1” (not very honest) to “7” (very honest). The list below is in descending order of perceived honesty, which starts with doctors who were rated the most honest, to politicians who jurors deemed the least honest.
Doctors
Scientists
Banks
Religious Institutions
Lawyers
Media
Politicians
Criminal Justice
Survey participants were asked to agree or disagree with a series of statements pertaining to our system of criminal justice. What follows is the percentage of Fulton County residents who agreed with each statement from the highest level of agreement to the lowest.
- 88% AGREE – A defendant arrested for a crime should be presumed innocent until proven guilty
- 77% AGREE – Innocent people are often brought to trial
- 71% AGREE – There are too many technicalities in the law that allow guilty people to go free
- 69% AGREE – Too many guilty people escape punishment because of legal technicalities
- 62% AGREE – If someone is innocent the prosecution would dismiss the case
- 60% AGREE – Our criminal justice system is weighed too heavily in favor of the prosecutor
- 59% AGREE – Defendants should be required to testify
- 50% AGREE – It is better for ten guilty people to go free than for one innocent person to be wrongly convicted and punished
- 42% AGREE – Our criminal justice system is weighed too heavily in favor of criminal defendants
- 30% AGREE – If the government brings someone to trial that person is probably guilty
- 25% AGREE – A defendant who does not testify is probably guilty
Prosecuting Donald Trump
Jurors were also asked to agree or disagree with a series of statements pertaining to the 2020 election and the criminal prosecutions of former president Donald Trump.
- 81% AGREE – Joe Biden was legitimately elected president in the 2020 election
- 73% AGREE – Donald Trump knew he lost the 2020 presidential election and has been lying about it ever since
- 69% AGREE – Donald Trump tried to suppress the votes of black voters during the 2020 election
- 67% AGREE – Donald Trump belongs in jail for his conduct after he lost the 2020 election
- 65% AGREE – If there are multiple defendants in a conspiracy case it is likely there was an existence of an illegal conspiracy
- 63% AGREE – There may have been some voter fraud in the 2020 election but not enough to have changed the result of Joe Biden winning the presidency
- 45% AGREE – I have seen many examples of voter fraud on social media and other news sources that I trust
- 44% AGREE – The 2020 election was full of fraud and voter irregularities
- 42% AGREE – Prosecutors are charging Donald Trump criminally because they do not want him to run for president in 2024
- 37% AGREE – The “Deep State” has been trying to take down Doanld Trump from the moment he became president in 2016
- 36% AGREE – Prosecutors are on a “witch hunt” to take down Doanld Trump
- 35% AGREE – Prosecutors are going after Donald Trump for exercising his protected right to free speech
- 32% AGREE – Donald Trump is all that stands in the way of our country becoming a Banana Republic
- 27% AGREE – There is no way Joe Biden won 81 million votes in the 2020 election
- 25% AGREE – There is no way Joe Biden won the State of Georgia in the 2020 election
Impressions
Jurors were asked to rate their impressions of the following people on a scale of 1 to 7. All jurors had heard of the current and former presidents, and two-thirds (242 out of 363) had heard of Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis. Only those who had heard of Ms. Willis were asked about their impression of her. What is your impression of:
Fulton County Attitudes of The Trump Trial
In a criminal case involving former President Donald Trump and the State of Georgia, whose version of the events would you be more likely to believe?
22% Donald Trump’s
78% State of Georgia’s
The criminal case against Donald Trump charges him with unlawfully conspiring with others to change the outcome of the 2020 election. Mr. Trump denies these charges. Is there anything about the nature of those charges that would make it difficult for you to be a fair and impartial juror in this case?
35% Yes
65% No
This case has received significant publicity in the media. Have you seen, read, or heard anything at all about this case in any form of media, including newspaper, television, radio, or internet?
87% Yes
13% No
If Yes (N = 317), has the news coverage or other information you have seen, read, or heard about this case caused you to form an opinion about the defendant’s guilt or innocence?
62% Yes
38% No
If Yes (N = 196), do you believe based on what you have seen, read or heard that:
57% Donald Trump is definitely guilty of the charges
28% Donald Trump is probably guilty of the charges
11% Donald Trump is probably not guilty of the charges
4% Donald Trump is definitely not guilty of the charges
Of the 196 participants who have formed an opinion about Donald Trump’s guilt or innocence, we asked them to elaborate on why they have already pre-judged the case.
Trump is Guilty
To those who already believe the former president is guilty of the charges, a multitude of this subset said this is due to the belief the former president is a liar, a cheat and an evil person. Some cited how Mr. Trump has done many sneaky things in the past, has a massive ego and typically does whatever he wants because he has never been held accountable for anything in his life, even for things preceding his presidency. Some cited the recorded phone call to Secretary of State Brad Raffensberger seeking 11,780 votes. Overall, jurors who are inclined to believe Trump is guilty as charged at this stage indicated that Mr. Trump has a history of dishonest behavior and the current charges reflect some overdue measure of accountability for yet another example of violating a rule, code of conduct and probably even the law.
Trump is Not Guilty
Survey respondents with their mind made up about Trump not being guilty felt that Trump is being unfairly targeted because “they” do not want him to run again for president. Some referenced there being a witch hunt, and supported Mr. Trump’s right to question the vote based on what survey respondents described as known irregularities during the 2020 election. A handful mentioned the call to Secretary of State Raffensberger and indicated that merely seeking to find votes was not tantamount to fraud. Many pro-Trump responses centered on the idea that the media is corrupt, has an agenda and is hiding information about the 2020 election. Finally, some jurors were simply not comfortable ascribing guilt to the former president since fundamental fairness requires deeming a criminal defendant innocent until proven guilty.
Do you believe Donald Trump could receive a fair trial in Fulton County, GA?
77% Yes
23% No
If you were asked to serve as a juror in the case against Donald Trump, would you be able to put aside everything you have seen, read, or heard about this case and not consider that information at all and decide the case fairly and impartially based solely on the evidence presented and the Court’s instructions of law?
68% Yes
32% No
The other open-ended question from our survey followed the one above, as we asked jurors to explain why they felt they could or could not be fair and impartial jurors. Of the over two-thirds (68%) who said they could fairly assess the case, a common theme was that everyone deserves their day in court and facts are all that matter in a court of law, not emotion, media reports or partisan finger-pointing. These Fulton County residents said justice should be blind, and that one’s duty as a juror is to listen to the judge and follow the facts as they are presented. One juror said, “I have been accused of many things in my past I wasn’t guilty of so I understand.” Some said they would be fair merely because they have not followed the case very closely. Many described themselves as fair, objective, and full of respect for the justice system so that they would wait for all of the evidence to come in before rendering a decision. Based on an overwhelming majority of these comments, very few of these respondents would be dismissed from the jury pool due to apparent bias.
To those who said they could not be a fair and impartial juror, most said based on what they have seen in the media Mr. Trump appears guilty and there is nothing that could change their mind. Feelings from these jurors about Mr. Trump are too negative, according to jurors who have “seen enough” and feel they have already firmly judged the evidence against the former president.
If you were asked to serve as a juror in the case against Donald Trump, would you be able to be in court almost every weekday from approximately 9am to 5pm for a span of 4 months?
48% Yes
52% No
If you were asked to serve as a juror in the case against Donald Trump, would you feel any pressure from either friends, family, neighbors, anyone in your community or from any other source to arrive at a certain verdict?
33% Yes
67% No
If Yes (N = 120), would the pressure be to find Donald Trump:
72% Guilty of the charges
28% Not guilty of the charges