Sassywood

The ordeal of sassy-wood is therefore made a penalty for all crimes ... the friends of the accused may buy him off from death for different sums of money ...[6] The bark of erythrophleum suaveolens contains the highly toxic compound erythrophleine.

Tannins can irritate the body's stomach lining, inducing vomiting before the erythrophleine can be absorbed, thus keeping the death rate of ingesting erythrophleum suaveolens bark low enough that the result of each trial is uncertain.

[8] In October 2009, Assistant Internal Affairs Minister Jangar announced the Liberian government had banned the practice, after the deaths of seven people accused of witchcraft in River Gee County in June, at least two of whom died from drinking the poison, but enforcing this policy is difficult.

[5] Some economists have even suggested that the maintenance of the sassywood trials in lieu of national judicial systems can have a positive effect on local Liberian communities.

They argue that, due to their quickness, trials by ordeal are generally more responsive to local crimes, which better disincentivizes criminal activity than the "decrepit" Liberian judicial system.