MONROVIA, Oct. 15 -- When Chief Justice Yamie Quiqui Gbeisay Sr. rose to open the Supreme Court's October Term on Monday, he did not deliver a routine ceremonial charge. He delivered an indictment of the jury system itself.

By Rodney D. Sieh

Jury manipulation, he told the courtroom at the Temple of Justice, was eroding the administration of justice in civil and criminal matters alike. He pointed to reported tampering in Nimba, Grand Gedeh, Bomi and Margibi counties, in cases ranging from rape to drug trafficking. Then he turned to the most politically charged trial in the country: the US$6.2 million economic sabotage case against former Finance Minister Samuel D. Tweah Jr. and others. The post-trial inquiry conducted by Criminal Court "...