Judge Says College Gets Indian Relics --for Now

It’s moving day for dozens of boxes and bags of artifacts dating back 600 years or so. An archeologist was ordered Tuesday to return the fragments of a long-dead Indian civilization to Palomar Community College

Palomar President George Boggs said he was pleased with the decision awarding the college temporary custody of the collection, which archeologist Leslie Quintero removed from a science laboratory during the Thanksgiving holiday last year.

Quintero, an instructor at Palomar, contended that she needed possession of the Indian artifacts for her research into the culture of San Luis Rey-area tribes. She had landowner permission to keep the relics, she said.

But Palomar officials filed a criminal complaint against Quintero, charging her with theft of the artifacts, which they valued at $100,000. They also sued to force return of the artifacts and to determine who owns them.

On Tuesday, Superior Court Judge Raymond Zvetina issued a temporary injunction ordering Quintero to return the materials to Palomar by Saturday, but ordered the college to allow Quintero free access to the artifacts until the issue of ownership is settled in the courts.

Guenter Cohn, Quintero’s attorney, called the judge’s ruling “a temporary setback” for his client. “Now the battle starts,” Cohn said, but declined to outline any legal moves he may make.

Boggs said he hopes the issue will be settled without a court battle. The college always has been willing to give Quintero access to the materials, which she and Palomar students have been extracting from an ancient trash dump north of Escondido for nine years, he said.

“I understand that she (Quintero) does not intend to appeal the judge’s ruling,” Boggs said, “and perhaps now the climate for talks is at hand.”

Quintero, who has been a part-time instructor in archeology at both Palomar and San Diego State University, was notified last fall that her contract at Palomar would not be renewed for the spring semester. Late last November, during Thanksgiving holidays, she removed the artifacts from Palomar with the intention of relocating them at San Diego State.

She concedes that she is not the owner of the artifacts but claims that Palomar College is not the owner either. According to state law, the owner of the land on which the artifacts were found is the owner of any materials found, she said.

The ownership of the land also is in a legal snarl. Donald Sullens, who claims to own the land and who gave Quintero the right to remove and retain the Indian artifacts, apparently is not the present owner. Lusardi Construction Co. of San Marcos bought the 190-acre property on which the midden is located in August, 1988, at a foreclosure sale, according to Lusardi Vice President Ken Lounsbery.

Since then, Lusardi has sent “cease-and-desist” notices to both Quintero and to Palomar College, ordering them to stop removing materials from the property, which is along Deer Springs Road north of Escondido.

However, Lounsbery said, “a college or university seems a logical repository for such things,” and preliminary negotiations with Palomar to allow students to resume the dig are under way.

The $100,000 grand theft complaint that Palomar lodged against Quintero was investigated by county Sheriff’s Department investigators who found that criminal charges were unfounded because of the question of ownership of the artifacts.

The materials under dispute consist of thousands of small pieces of animal bones, shell, pottery, charcoal and other debris that the ancient Indian tribe tossed away while camping at the inland valley.