
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: WEDNESDAY, November 15, 1995                   TAG: 9511150034
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: C-5   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: STAUNTON                                LENGTH: Medium

COURT REJECTS ARGUMENT IN WILD-BIRD PARTS CASE

A jury convicted an American Indian couple of possessing wild-animal parts after a judge rejected defense tactics intended to show they used owl wings and talons for religious purposes.

Augusta County Circuit Judge Thomas Wood fined Timothy and Diane Horen of Crimora $100 each Monday and ordered them to pay court costs.

The jury convicted them of possessing several wild-bird parts, including the wings and talons. Possession of wild-animal parts is a misdemeanor and has a maximum sentence of a $500 fine.

The Horens, members of the Southeastern Cherokee Confederation, maintain they got the parts from dead birds they found in the wild, and used them for religious purposes. Their religious practices are protected by the First Amend- ment, they argued.

Members of federally recognized American Indian tribes can obtain permits to possess bird parts for use in religious ceremonies, but the Cherokee confederation to which the Horens belong is not among the recognized tribes.

Wood last week rejected an attempt by the couple's attorneys for a defense based on the religious freedom argument, clearing the way for Monday's trial.

The Horens were charged Feb. 10 after an undercover operation by the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries.

Defense attorney Dean Whitford attempted to revive the religious freedom argument by calling as a witness Randall ``Walking Bear'' Downey. Whitford tried repeatedly to ask Downey, a war chief with the Cherokee Confederacy, about the significance and purpose of the animal parts seized from the Horens.

Wood rejected the line of questioning. ``We're not going to have a religious discussion,'' he told Whitford. ``You need to go to the General Assembly and make that argument, or to Congress, but not here.''

The jury took 20 minutes to convict the couple. The Horens said they plan to appeal.

``We understand the position of the government,'' Timothy Horen said. ``There's a lot of people that don't take care of living creatures. There's a need for protecting those things.''

``But to say that picking up a feather is going to harm the wildlife conservation is ridiculous,'' Diane Horen said.

by CNB