Having written about Santa Muerte and the saint’s popularity with Mexican drug traffickers in my last John Santana novel, Death’s Way, it was fascinating to read that the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has overturned the firearms and drug-trafficking convictions of two Tulsa, Oklahoma residents, Rafael Goxcon-Chagal, 53, and Maria Vianey Medina-Copete, 38, ruling that a prosecution witness tainted their convictions by testifying that the skeleton saint known as La Santa Muerte, or the Death Saint, was good indicator of possible criminal activity.

Goxcon-Chagal and Medina-Copete were convicted in August 2012 of trafficking methamphetamine. Along with illegal drugs, a Santa Muerte prayer card was found on them during a traffic stop that led to their 2011 arrests. Both were sentenced to 15 years in prison.

The appeal’s court wrote that the testimony of prosecution witness U.S. Marshal Robert Almonte, who has trained law enforcement agents and written about Santa Muerte, “substantially influenced the outcome of the trial and was highly prejudicial to the defendants,” even though Almonte indicated that not all worshippers of the saint were involved in criminal activity.

Santa Muerte has been used as evidence and as probable cause in previous cases, but this is the first time that a conviction has been overturned because the saint was used in a trial.

Despite the fact that the Catholic Church does not recognize Santa Muerte, the saint’s many worshippers often pray to the black-robed, scythe-carrying saint for help in carrying out vengeance or to stop lovers from cheating.

The appeals court has ordered a new trial for the couple.