We have not been shy in expressing our admiration for Ms Paula Llewellyn, the director of public prosecutions (DPP). The lady has skills which, combined with her passion and a likeable personality, make her well suited to be Jamaica’s first woman DPP.

Which is why we are very disappointed with her premature outbursts against the two female jurors who were arrested and charged with, among other things, attempting to pervert the course of justice, for allegedly being caught accepting $60,000 from the mother of a man facing a murder charge in Clarendon.

The very trenchant description of the law as “an ass” by a legal luminary captures the depth of frustration experienced by some who must uphold it. Because no matter what, it is necessary for the law to take all its natural courses, even when the final conclusion seemed certain from the very beginning. That is why we hold desperately to the concept that a man is presumed innocent until proven guilty.

The story, based on reports from the Clarendon police division, are that the two women – Ms Natalie Sill, a domestic helper, and Ms Verona Samuels, jury foreman – were held in the bathroom of an eatery in May Pen on November 16, moments after allegedly collecting $60,000 from the mother of Mr Rohan Johnson to influence fellow jurors to render a favourable verdict in Mr Johnson’s murder trial before Justice Bryan Sykes in the Clarendon Circuit Court. Both have been remanded in custody.

Ms Llewellyn, in her first public comment on the case, was quoted as saying: “I consider this an outrage and an assault on all that is decent. I have been fully briefed by the Crown counsel and will be appointing a Crown counsel to prosecute this case.”

She was not alone in her rush to judgement on their guilt. The Bar Association of Jamaica also condemned the alleged attempt to pervert the justice system and put forward several recommendations to improve the process of selecting jurors.

It may well be that at the end of the trial the women are found guilty and convicted. But Ms Llewellyn seems quite prepared to jump straight to the sentencing by again alleging the guilt of the women, in her impassioned address to a St Hugh’s High School function over the weekend.

What we ask is whether it is now possible for them to get a fair trial anywhere in Jamaica.

The allegations are indeed serious ones, and we expect that if the women are convicted, that their punishment will send a signal to those who would follow in their footsteps, that this country does not treat lightly with this kind of crime.

But we think it would be unfortunate if the case could not proceed the way it should because of any technicality in the way it was handled by the agents of the State. That would be too cruel to contemplate.

In her first media interview after being named DPP on March 4, 2008, Ms Llewellyn immediately raised the bar in telling the Observer she would offer the “best possible prosecutorial services in the public interest and to achieve world-class and first-class standards”.

We do not wish to see anything less.