[Avodah] Threats Against A Judge

[Harvey Benton]

If CV a Judge/Rav/Beis Din, etc (and/or their families) are threatened so that they should  rule in a certain way in a civil or criminal matter, what should the Judges do?  Does Sakanos Nefashos take precedence or does Din/Mishpat?  (Or Yirat Hashem? eg. sword over their heads mashal...).  Does the percieved threat level affect this decision?  What about the cases being tried, eg. Dinei Mamon v. Dinei Nefashos, Malkus, etc affecting this decision? Is a threat to be considered as a >bribe< and therefore categorically rejected in all cases?   HB