Court Orders 15 Jurors Jailed, Seeks Jury Tampering Suspects

By Lincoln G. Peters

TEMPLE OF JUSTICE, Monrovia, July 21, 2026 — Criminal Court “C” has ordered the arrest and detention of all 15 jurors who heard the US$19 million corruption case involving former Finance Minister Samuel D. Tweah Jr. and his co-defendants following an investigation into jury tampering and misconduct.

Judge Ousman F. Feika also instructed the Ministry of Justice to identify and investigate individuals who allegedly communicated with the jurors by telephone while they were sequestered.

The court said anyone linked to calls or text messages exchanged with the jurors should be arrested and prosecuted where supported by evidence.

“The entire jury panel sequestered to hear the evidence in the case is hereby ordered arrested forthwith for contempt of court, incarcerated at the Monrovia Central Prison, and turned over to the Ministry of Justice for prosecution for gross jury tampering and jury misconduct,” Judge Feika ordered Tuesday.

The judge instructed the court clerk to prepare a commitment order directing the sheriff to arrest and detain the jurors pending the outcome of their prosecution.

The order followed an investigation prompted by affidavits alleging that jurors possessed and used mobile phones while sequestered.

According to the investigative report, several phones and SIM cards were present in the jury quarters. The court said jurors used the devices to make and receive calls and exchange text messages with people outside the facility.

The court has not yet publicly identified the individuals who allegedly communicated with the jurors or established whether they were connected to the prosecution, defense or other interested parties.

Judge Feika said the investigation also found that jurors discussed the case daily while returning from court, riding on the jury bus and staying in their quarters. Disagreements reportedly arose among the jurors over their positions in the case.

The report said most jurors denied possessing or seeing phones in the quarters, but the evidence contradicted their accounts.

“A majority of the jurors were untruthful about their knowledge of phones being present in the jury quarters during sequestration,” the court said.

The report further alleged that most of the jurors met before the investigation resumed and agreed to maintain a common account that no phones had been present.

However, the court said jurors Catherine Quawah and Cynthia Tarplah remained consistent with the allegations contained in their affidavits, which the investigation found to be accurate.

Following an inspection of the jury quarters, investigators found that waste generated during the sequestration, including possible remnants of phones or SIM cards, had been disposed of by the jurors, leaving no trace, the report said.

Judge Feika concluded that the misconduct had tainted the jury’s May 8, 2026, not-guilty verdict. He declared the proceeding a mistrial, set aside the verdict and ordered a new trial for Tweah and his co-defendants.

The jurors have been ordered detained for contempt and referred for prosecution, but they have not yet been convicted of criminal jury-tampering charges.