The Modesto Bee

MODESTO -- A university investigation into a survey scandal involving the Scott Peterson double-murder case may last several weeks or months, President Marvalene Hughes said Tuesday.
A preliminary inquiry launched Thursday at California State University, Stanislaus, which had been predicted to take a week, has evolved into the full-blown investigation, Hughes said.

"I want the community to have the patience that is needed in order to investigate this case thoroughly and appropriately," she said.

Judge Al Girolami cited the 10-county survey, overseen by professor Stephen Schoenthaler, in a decision Thursday to move the Peterson trial out of Modesto. Girolami didn't know about allegedly falsified survey data until later that day.

Girolami last week said the trial must move to a larger metropolitan area within driving distance of Modesto and with a major airport, because an enormous amount of pretrial publicity rules out a fair trial in Modesto. He suggested Alameda, San Mateo and Santa Clara counties.

Girolami is scheduled to listen to arguments from prosecutors and defense attorneys Tuesday on the change-of-venue issue, then make his selection.

"The decision is ultimately his," Superior Court Executive Officer Michael Tozzi said Tuesday.

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

Also Tuesday, another criminal justice student came forward to The Modesto Bee, bringing to nine the number who have said they fabricated survey responses. All said they were pressed for time during finals and worried about telephone bills because they were required to make dozens of lengthy, long-distance calls with their phones.

A national association of pollsters issued a rare official statement, calling the survey, if the allegations are true, a disgrace.

Another judge extended until Feb. 10 the authority of Sharon Rocha over the estate of her daughter, Laci Peterson.

Schoenthaler continues to teach a course during the current winter term ending Feb. 4, university spokesman Don Hansen said, and is expected to teach other classes when spring semester begins Feb. 16. Hughes said the professor will remain on the job until the investigation concludes.

"I would like to give the community the absolute assurance that we will take all cautions necessary to protect the individuals involved," Hughes said, "and to protect the quality of the academic process at the university." Schoenthaler initially said he didn't believe the students' claims and later said he needed more information.

Tenured professors such as Schoenthaler enjoy many protections through a labor unit contract. Administrators, however, can levy discipline ranging from a reprimand to dismissal if an investigation determines policy was violated.

Hughes said no tenured professor has been fired during her 10 years as university president. Discipline for students guilty of "academic dishonesty" range from probation to expulsion, she said.

Meanwhile, the 1,800-member American Association for Public Opinion Research issued a tersely worded condemnation of "unethical and irresponsible practices reported to have been used" in Schoenthaler's survey.

Association President Elizabeth Martin said from her office in Washington, D.C., that her group issued the unusual statement "because of all the publicity, and we don't want people to think this is how surveys are normally done." The release states, "All reputable surveys monitor or check for the possibility of falsification by directly observing or by calling back a sample of cases to" ensure interviews were done. Schoenthaler previously conceded that he did neither.

The statement added, "It is exploitative to require students to carry out a telephone survey with inadequate supervision and at their own expense."

Martin said Schoenthaler does not appear on her group's membership list.

Also Tuesday, Stanislaus County Superior Court Judge John G. Whiteside postponed a court date regarding Laci Peterson's estate until Feb. 10. At issue is control of Laci Peterson's property.