2 AMERICAN INDIANS WANT SEIZED PEYOTE BACK.

Byline: Associated Press 

Two American Indians contend the Sheriff's Department is violating their religious freedom by failing to return 250 pounds of peyote.

Paul Skyhorse Durant and Buzz Berry asked a judge Monday to order the drug returned after Ventura County prosecutors refused to file drug charges against them.

A 1994 federal law, the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, allows American Indians to have and transport the hallucinogenic cactus buds for use in traditional ceremonies.

``These are our sacraments,'' Durant told Municipal Court Judge Steven Hintz.

The judge ordered the sheriff to ``follow the law,'' but the Sheriff's Department said that law doesn't clearly address the return of the drug.

``We still consider this an illegal substance, and we're not releasing it until we get a legal opinion that says otherwise,'' said Capt. Mark Ball, a sheriff's spokesman.

The department is looking to the district attorney's office for that opinion.

The peyote was found on Nov. 22 when Durant and Berry were stopped in the Oak View area because their van was weaving in traffic and had a faulty muffler, authorities said.

``It's not as if we were hiding it or anything,'' Berry said. ``It was all over the van.''

Durant said he bought the peyote in Texas from a licensed distributor and was taking it to Oregon and Washington state for religious use.

On Monday, the men and a handful of supporters held ceremonial chanting and drumming outside court before their brief arraignment.

Although no charges were immediately filed, Durant and Berry could be prosecuted after further investigation, said Deputy District Attorney William Redmond.

Until then, the Sheriff's Department won't return the peyote.

``Absolutely not,'' said Sgt. Arnie Aviles of the Ventura County Sheriff's Department. ``The case is still under investigation by the DA's office. They have three years and a day to file.''

``We're not anxious to put 10,000 doses of peyote out on the street unless somebody's taken responsibility for it,'' Aviles said.

Durant, an American Indian activist, has a history of run-ins with the law. In 1978, he and Richard Mohawk were acquitted of the 1974 murder of a cabdriver near Simi Valley. The yearlong trial made headlines.

In 1984, Durant and Mohawk were convicted of bank robbery in Los Angeles. Durant was sentenced to eight years in prison.

Durant and Berry, who live out of state, were in town to visit a friend, Jim French. French said his friends were being harassed.

``Every time Paul Skyhorse comes into this county they mess with him,'' he said.

``Nobody knew who he was when we stopped him,'' Aviles replied.