No, that's only storage - the seeds must be moist for the chill to count, and often the flesh/pulp of a berry or fruit will contain germination inhibitors, easiest is to clean the seeds while the fruit is soft not dried. I haven't germinated these myself, but the suggestions all seem to point towards at least an overnight soak before sowing, allow water to easier breach the seed coat.

Thanks! That makes sence.
I'm trying different ways to germinate these seeds using small batches. The first one I kept in the moist soil in the refregirator for 3 months and now they've been outside in a pot for 6 weeks. Have another batch outside for 6 weeks too to give them a warm/cold/warm cycle. Will sow some later in the fall.
Also I want to try to germinate them without soil. What would be a good medium for a cold moist stratification in the refregirator? I have white coffee filters and perlite.
I soaked the berries for a day or two to get the seeds out. Some of them come out clean and others still have a little bit of flesh attached. Should I keep them soaked till they are clean? Thank you!

I'm not sure how small these are - could you lay them on a rag after soaking, give them a rub with the edge of it? Sometimes a couple of drops of dishwashing liquid in the soaking water will help to loosen any pulp, especially if sticky or oily (like magnolia).

I like sterile vermiculite for the moist chill, or sterile moist sand. It only takes a teaspoon or two for many seeds in a small ziplock and at the end of the chill period the contents, seeds + vermiculite, can be sown without extracting the seeds again. Others will use the coffee filters but I'm not a fan of them.

Thank you for the information! I'll try perlite, it seems similar to vermiculite.
The seeds with the flesh attached didn't look as developed as the rest and the flesh is right where the root should come out. But they looked very nice, vibrant after the cold stratification in soil and still had that brownish stuff attached to them. Well, I'll try to rub them. Thanks!