Unfortunately they did not insist on the regular, established procedures

From American Heroes: Profiles of Men and Women Who Shaped Early America by Edmund S. Morgan. Page 120.

In any case, it was clear that some more objective evidence ought to be required for conviction, and the members of the court knew this perfectly well. If they had insisted on such evidence, if they had insisted that the regular, established procedures for trying witches be followed, they would have been able to prevent the Salem episode from turning into a general panic.

Unfortunately they did not insist on the regular, established procedures. They admitted spectral evidence and convicted men and women solely on the basis of such evidence, which was offered in many cases by hysterical teenage girls who were perhaps enjoying the notoriety they had suddenly attained and who doubtless persuaded themselves, as they persuaded the court, that their fantasies were reality. The judges, like other members of the community, were alarmed at the size of the danger that appeared to face them. The devil with all his legions seemed to have invaded New England, and it was no time, they felt, to be nice about methods of dealing with him. Fight him ruthlessly with no holds barred. Better that a few individuals suffer than that the whole community be endangered.

Yes, popular hysteria created the initial problem but the initial problem became a tragedy when leadership succumbed to the same hysteria.

We still see a lot of that happening.