Post by blackcrowheart on Oct 11, 2006 17:46:54 GMT -5
Native American Church elder put on probation in drug case
Posted by: "SAL CAMARILLo" salcamarillo1@sbcglobal.net salcamarillo1
Sun Oct 8, 2006 12:40 am (PST)
Paul Skyhorse Durant has pleaded guilty to possessing less than an ounce of marijuana and also illegally possessing a painkiller drug, both misdemeanor charges. Ventura County Superior Court Judge Glen Reiser on Wednesday ordered that Durant, 61, be put on three years of probation, said prosecutor Ron Carpenter. The judge gave Durant five days jail credit, Carpenter said.
Durant, who is an American Indian, was initially charged nearly two years ago with five counts of drug and drug-related charges that could have sent him to prison for more than a decade. Those charges were possession and transportation of peyote, possession and transportation of marijuana, and possession of a controlled substance.
Durant had said that he used the peyote, which was less than 4 ounces, for the religious ceremonies of the Native American Church. He said the marijuana, also less than 4 ounces, was for medicinal purposes.
On Wednesday, Reiser agreed with Durant's attorney, Omar Figueroa, and dismissed the possession and transportation of peyote charges, Carpenter said. The judge also ordered that the peyote be returned to Durant. Durant is an elder and religious leader of the Native American Church. He said he has a legal right to keep peyote and transport it as a church member and its spiritual "road man," in charge of keeping and storing the church peyote. Calls to the San Francisco-based Figueroa weren't returned; Durant has maintained that prosecutors were discriminating against him because of his religious beliefs. At a hearing last month, former Ventura Police Department Officer Dan Swanson testified that he answered a call that a suspicious vehicle was parked near Trinity and Channel drives on Nov. 9, 2004. Swanson, who now works at the Simi Valley Police Department, said Durant was asleep. Swanson later determined that Durant was wanted on a DUI charge that
happened in 2003. Swanson said he smelled marijuana coming from the vehicle. A search turned up the peyote, marijuana and a pain-killing drug. Durant was being charged as a felon because of an armed robbery conviction. Durant and Richard Mohawk were convicted in 1994 in a Los Angeles federal court of a bank robbery in which a customer was shot and injured. Durant was sentenced to eight years, and Mohawk received a 20-year sentence. In 1996, Durant was arrested in Ventura County for possessing 250 pounds of peyote plants, which were discovered after a traffic stop. However, criminal charges against him were dropped, and the peyote was given to the American Indian spiritual leader of the church � and Durant's brother � Kenneth Little Fish Durant. Prosecutors determined that it was being used for religious purposes.
Posted by: "SAL CAMARILLo" salcamarillo1@sbcglobal.net salcamarillo1
Sun Oct 8, 2006 12:40 am (PST)
Paul Skyhorse Durant has pleaded guilty to possessing less than an ounce of marijuana and also illegally possessing a painkiller drug, both misdemeanor charges. Ventura County Superior Court Judge Glen Reiser on Wednesday ordered that Durant, 61, be put on three years of probation, said prosecutor Ron Carpenter. The judge gave Durant five days jail credit, Carpenter said.
Durant, who is an American Indian, was initially charged nearly two years ago with five counts of drug and drug-related charges that could have sent him to prison for more than a decade. Those charges were possession and transportation of peyote, possession and transportation of marijuana, and possession of a controlled substance.
Durant had said that he used the peyote, which was less than 4 ounces, for the religious ceremonies of the Native American Church. He said the marijuana, also less than 4 ounces, was for medicinal purposes.
On Wednesday, Reiser agreed with Durant's attorney, Omar Figueroa, and dismissed the possession and transportation of peyote charges, Carpenter said. The judge also ordered that the peyote be returned to Durant. Durant is an elder and religious leader of the Native American Church. He said he has a legal right to keep peyote and transport it as a church member and its spiritual "road man," in charge of keeping and storing the church peyote. Calls to the San Francisco-based Figueroa weren't returned; Durant has maintained that prosecutors were discriminating against him because of his religious beliefs. At a hearing last month, former Ventura Police Department Officer Dan Swanson testified that he answered a call that a suspicious vehicle was parked near Trinity and Channel drives on Nov. 9, 2004. Swanson, who now works at the Simi Valley Police Department, said Durant was asleep. Swanson later determined that Durant was wanted on a DUI charge that
happened in 2003. Swanson said he smelled marijuana coming from the vehicle. A search turned up the peyote, marijuana and a pain-killing drug. Durant was being charged as a felon because of an armed robbery conviction. Durant and Richard Mohawk were convicted in 1994 in a Los Angeles federal court of a bank robbery in which a customer was shot and injured. Durant was sentenced to eight years, and Mohawk received a 20-year sentence. In 1996, Durant was arrested in Ventura County for possessing 250 pounds of peyote plants, which were discovered after a traffic stop. However, criminal charges against him were dropped, and the peyote was given to the American Indian spiritual leader of the church � and Durant's brother � Kenneth Little Fish Durant. Prosecutors determined that it was being used for religious purposes.