A special Gallup poll was conducted on Monday evening, shortly after the judge's decisions to reduce the charge against Louise Woodward from murder to manslaughter, and to free her from jail. The results show that Americans tend to approve of the judge's decision to reduce the charge, but disapprove of the decision to free Woodward after she had served about 10 months in jail awaiting trial. None of these sentiments are widely held. Mixed sentiments are also evident when Americans are asked about Woodward's basic culpability in the case. About forty percent of Monday night's sample have children under the age of 18.
Parents are also slightly less likely to agree with either of the judge's two decisions.
Some of the controversy surrounding Monday's courtroom events centered on the fact that the judge modified the original verdict of a jury of the defendant's peers. The results are based on telephone interviews with a randomly selected national sample of 623 adults aged 18 and over, conducted November 10, 1997. For results based on a sample of this size, one can say with 95 percent confidence that the error attributable to sampling and other random effects could be plus or minus 4 percentage points. In addition to sampling error, question wording and practical difficulties in conducting surveys can introduce error or bias into the findings of public opinion polls. As you may know, last week a jury convicted British nanny, Louise Woodward, of 2nd degree murder for the death of an 8 month old baby in her care.