A survey scandal in the Scott Peterson case will delay a murder trial in Fresno County whose defendant -- an alleged Muslim terrorist -- relied on the same survey expert.

Also Monday, the leader of a national surveyors' association condemned the supervision of the Peterson poll.

Stephen Schoenthaler, a criminology professor at California State University, Stanislaus, is scheduled to testify Friday in Fresno regarding a change-of-venue survey that he compiled for a murder case there. But the defendant's attorney said Monday that he will seek a delay of "at least several weeks" while the Peterson poll is sorted out.

"We're looking into what's happening in Stanislaus County right now, as it might affect our case," said Peter Jones, a deputy public defender in Fresno County. He represents Ramadan Abdur-Rauf Abdullah, who has pleaded innocent by reason of insanity in the slaying of a deputy sheriff.

Last week, seven of Schoenthaler's fall semester students said they falsified all or part of the surveys that the professor required the students to submit for 20 percent of their grade. Schoenthaler compiled the data and concluded that unbiased jurors were not likely to be found in Stanislaus County.

An eighth student came forward to The Bee during the weekend. Prosecutors have made a public appeal for the students to contact them, as well.

Thursday, Superior Court Judge Al Girolami cited the survey in his decision to move Peterson's trial, probably to the Bay Area.

Peterson, 31, is charged with killing his pregnant wife, Laci, and their unborn son. Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty.

Both the Peterson and Fresno County surveys were conducted in late November and early December.

Based on survey data, Schoenthaler recommended moving both trials. The Peterson survey claimed 1,175 respondents; 300 were polled in Fresno County.

But while Schoenthaler relied on students for the former, he said he hired a private company to do the Fresno County poll. The company is owned by one of his students, Schoenthaler said Monday, adding, "That is irrelevant."

The professor declined to say how much he charged the Fresno County public defender's office for the poll.

Abdullah's attorney has acknowledged that his client shot and killed deputy Erik Telen as Telen and his partner investigated a burglary in August 2001.

A segment of a Fresno highway was named to honor Telen, and thousands attended his funeral.

About 3,000 people attended a memorial service for Peterson, and a push is under way to rename a Modesto park to honor her and her son -- facts cited by Girolami in his decision to move the trial.

Stanislaus State University officials have launched an official inquiry into the allegations surrounding the Peterson poll; the probe could conclude later this week.

Scandal distresses poll group

The Peterson scandal has rocked the American Association for Public Opinion Research, the association's president said Monday.

Chatter on an online bulletin board run by the association has been thick since Friday's revelation, said the president, Elizabeth Martin.

"This certainly makes survey researchers look bad," she said. "This sounds like it was done without sufficient training or oversight, and it sounds like the students were exploited."

The students and Schoenthaler said he required them to make dozens of lengthy, long distance calls on their own phones.

He gave them survey materials two days before Thanksgiving and required a quick turnaround; students said they ran out of time and money.

Some said they did not realize that the data would be used in a high-profile, double-murder case, while two said Schoenthaler made that clear from the start.

"Data integrity is a product of organizational integrity," reads an excerpt from a paper issued by the pollsters' association.

Industry standards advocated by the group urge "centralized telephone facilities where behavior can be observed and monitoring of interviewers is routine."

The standards warn against "inadequate supervision, lack of concern about interviewer motivation, poor quality control, inadequate compensation, excessive workload and off-site isolation of interviewers."

The standards also call for verification by recontacting from 5 percent to 15 percent of survey respondents. Schoenthaler said he called none of the phone numbers submitted by his students.

While Schoenthaler spent "over an hour" training his student surveyors, the University of Connecticut requires three days of training.

Chris Barnes, associate director of that university's Center for Research and Analysis, said no reputable supervisor sends students home to make survey calls.

The Peterson poll fiasco "is an amazing event in our industry," Barnes said. "It's just horrible."

Stanislaus State University Vice Provost Diana Demetrulias last week called Schoenthaler "a very respected researcher." In 14 years, he has overseen 31 change-of-venue surveys, using student surveyors for the three highest-profile cases. They involved Richard Allen Davis, convicted of murdering 12-year-old Polly Klaas; San Joaquin County serial killer Louis Peoples; and Peterson.

"We do it as a public service," Schoenthaler said Monday. "It's good for the community, good for the students and good for taxpayers."

Schoenthaler hired private polling companies on the other 28 cases, he said. They included the trial of George Souliotes, convicted of killing three people in a Modesto arson. Jurors were bused from San Joaquin County for that proceeding.

Raw data requested

Dennis Peterson, who is prosecuting the Abdullah case in Fresno County, said Monday that Schoenthaler had yet to provide the prosecution's expert with raw data from the change-of- venue survey despite repeated requests since last month.

Last week, a prosecution expert in Modesto's Peterson case testified that Schoenthaler never gave him raw data from that survey.

Monday, the Fresno prosecutor said of Schoenthaler, "I'm looking forward to doing that cross-examination."