The last time a federal judge heard the case of the Tomales Bay skeleton, he threw it out of his courtroom, but it seems on the verge of reappearing again.

Defendants Jamie Horn of Inverness and Bobby Hill of Forest Knolls had challenged the $100 tickets they received for "possessing, disturbing, or destroying archaeological resources" after reporting that a human skeleton had been unearthed by waves in the Point Reyes National Seashore.

When the citations were dismissed June 19, both men and their lawyer recall US Magistrate Judge Owen Woodruff telling them: "You are free. Go and sin no more."

Now they have been told to expect that federal prosecutors and the Park Service will file formal charges against them any day.

Horn and friends discovered the skeleton on a Tomales Bay beach in January. The skeleton lay crouched in sand with a metal ball in its rib cage. Horn took the ball to Hill in Forest Knolls, who urged him to report what looked like a murder to the Sheriff's Office.

After Horn called deputies, the pair received a phone call from park rangers, who told them to stay away from that beach. The next day, Horn showed the skeleton to Hill, who said he expected to find authorities investigating the site.

Since part of the skeleton had already been washed away, Hill said he marked the site and moved the exposed bones upland to keep them from washing away in an incoming tide.

The following morning, deputies and rangers accompanied the two men to the beach at the pair's request. Nearly two weeks later, the two men were summoned to park headquarters and handed tickets for disturbing a Miwok midden (debris mound).

Rangers at the Point Reyes National Seashore say the two men were informed of the site's historic nature and explain that disturbing human remains is a serious crime.

"You cannot go out and disturb archaeological resources," said the park's assistant superintendent, Frank Dean. "These guys were told not to disturb the site, and they went out and did it."

"We feel these are serious charges, and we're interested in seeing this case adjudicated," he continued. "This isn't something we're willing to walk away from."

However, both men insist they did nothing wrong, especially faced with what seemed to them official indifference towards the discovery of human remains on a public beach.

By their accounts, Judge Woodruff agreed, placing himself in their situation and deciding the law against disturbing archaeological resources applied more to professional grave robbers than casual beachcombers

"When the judge said he's been to Limantour Beach, I just smiled," said Horn. "I knew there's no way he was going to convict us."

Horn said he felt vindicated by the judge's decision because he took the metal ball out of concern, not as a souvenir.

A Sonoma State archaeologist who visited the site afterwards said the two men did not substantially damage the midden, but he added the bones and metal ball have no value to researchers now that they have been moved.

The archaeologist, Christian Gerike, said his group secured the exposed skeleton without investigating the area out of respect for the dead. "Archaeology and human remains are two different concerns," he said.

Gerike said the proper procedure for reporting unidentified bones is to notify the county coroner, who is responsible for determining their origin and contacting the Native American Heritage Foundation in Sacramento if appropriate.

Indeed, the assistant county coroner, Kenneth Holmes, said rangers and sheriff's deputies failed to notify his office until nearly two weeks had passed. He recalled learning about the bones first from Light news editor David Rolland, then from Miwok representatives.

"We didn't hear about it from any of the places we're supposed to," he said. "Now there's a mechanism for the rangers at the Seashore to get in touch with us, but the guys out there said they didn't know. You can't argue with that."

Yet the Park Service continues to demand restitution from Hill and Horn, who were first asked to pay $100 in a "petty offenses" arbitration hearing. When arbitration failed, they appeared before Judge Woodruff, who dismissed the citations.

Last week the men were offered a plea bargain: For 20 hours of community service each, neither would be asked for an admission of guilt. Refusing to concede any wrongdoing to rangers, both men refused the offer.

"I told them I wouldn't [even] stroke my girlfriend's butt for 20 hours," Bobby Hill told The Light.