Voodoo dust in the Magic City
• Superstitious Folly
An American lawyer has been convicted of money laundering after a trial disrupted by allegations that voodoo magic was being used to influence the outcome. ...
The debonair Mr Gregorie complained to the judge that his dry-cleaning bills had become worryingly onerous as the trial progressed, apparently because someone was scattering a good luck charm on his chair and in his files of evidence.
Famed for his eloquence, Mr Gregorie pleaded for judicial intercession. "It's the Santeria dust, Your Honour," he said, referring to the animist religion popular in Cuba. His prosecuting colleague showed Judge Seitz a large quantity of the grey dust collected from evidence boxes. Judge Seitz ordered that the court be vacuumed to clean up the powder and also locked during each recess.