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“I don’t have any problem with him practicing whatever belief he wants to,” Burnett responded. “That doesn’t mean that belief is not a part of relevant evidence in a proceeding against him.”

Price countered, “If it is a writing he had a year before the murders, it is obviously not relevant.”

But Prosecutor Davis returned to the theory of motive, arguing that the timing of Damien’s beliefs was not relevant. He argued that a person’s ideas, which might be “a motive for causing them to act,” continued “over a course of time.”272

Ultimately, Burnett ruled in favor of the prosecution: that the books, writings, and drawings taken from Damien’s home a year before the murders would be admitted as evidence. “I’m also going to rule,” he said, “that, inasmuch as the state has the burden of proof in this case, and inasmuch as a good portion of the case is circumstantial, that it’s necessary and appropriate that the state prove motive if they can…[and] that the probative value of the testimony with regard to motivation outweighs any possible prejudicial effect.”

Still in the hearing, Ford asked Griffis, “Do you have any evidence that establishes a link between Jason Baldwin and the occult?”

“No.”

“Are all crimes of this nature occultic in nature? Are all murders where these type of injuries happen, are they all occultic?”

“No sir.”

“What separates this one from those that aren’t?”

“First of all, the dates, the full moon.”

The defense lawyers protested that there was no scientific basis to Griffis’s proposed testimony that the murders were cult related. But Judge Burnett ruled against them. The judge said he was qualifying Griffis as an expert “based upon his knowledge, experience and training in the area of occultism or satanism.”

Eleven Black T-shirts

When the jury returned, Fogleman called a few witnesses in preparation for Griffis. Lisa Sakevicius, from the crime lab, testified that she’d found “a trace of blue wax” on one of the victims’ shirts. Other witnesses said that they’d found a book titledNever on a Broomstick and the skull of a dog in Damien’s home, and that eleven black T-shirts had been found in Jason’s home. With that, Fogleman called Griffis, who told the court how, based on the fullness of the moon and the lack of blood at the scene, he had detected “the trappings of occultism.”

“In looking at young people involved in the occult, do you see any particular type of dress or jewelry or body markings, anything like that?” the prosecutor asked.

“I have personally observed people wearing black fingernails, having their hair painted black, wearing black T-shirts, black dungarees, that type of thing,” Griffis said. “Sometimes they will tattoo themselves. Then they’ll use some earrings which have occult symbols on them that you can buy through mail-order houses.”

Then Fogleman asked about the types of artwork he’d seen associated with “people involved in occultism.” Griffis answered that what he’d seen involved “necromancy, or love of death.” Artwork attributed to Damien qualified as that, he said. Similarly, he said that Damien’s writings indicated involvement in the occult. And so did books in his possession. As Griffis testified, he sharpened his opinion further, stating that the crime showed trappings, not just of vague occultism, but of satanic worship in particular.273

The State’s Final Evidence

The next day, Fogleman and Davis mounted their final attack. They called two young girls and the mother of one of the girls to testify about what they’d heard at a softball game. One of the girls, a twelve-year-old, said, “I heard Damien Echols say that he killed the three boys.”274She said that Jason Baldwin was with Damien at the time, and that after she heard the remark, she’d reported it to her mother.

On cross-examination the girl acknowledged that she had never seen Damien before the encounter at the ballpark. She said he was talking in a group of people, but that the confession to murder was the only part