“Pink Cocaine” Isn’t Cocaine & is Dangerous
Pink Cocaine Isn’t Cocaine — The Dark Reality of “Tusi” Forensic Toxicology · Public Health Pink CocaineIsn’t Cocaine A candy-colored powder is sweeping nightlife from Bogotá to New York. Almost nothing about it is what the name promises. By The Desk Long read · 7 min Updated 2026 A pink,…
Ninth Circuit Rulings Cause Open-Carry Law Confusion
Open Carry in California: Why the Headlines Outran the Law The Okorocha Firm Notes on California Law Second Amendment · Status Update Open Carry in California: Why the Headlines Outran the Law A Ninth Circuit panel struck down the urban open-carry ban in January. The full court has since voted…
California’s Age-Appropriate Design Code Act Decision
Half a Loaf for California’s Kids-Online Law The Okorocha Firm Notes on California Law Technology · Children Online Half a Loaf for California’s Kids-Online Law On its second look at the Age-Appropriate Design Code, the Ninth Circuit put the age-estimation rule back in play while keeping the data-use and “dark…
Badges, the Border, and the Supremacy Clause
Badges, the Border, and the Supremacy Clause The Okorocha Firm Notes on California Law Federal Supremacy · Law Enforcement Badges, the Border, and the Supremacy Clause The Ninth Circuit paused California’s “No Vigilantes Act,” ruling the state likely cannot force non-uniformed federal agents to display identification. Here is what the…
Trump Administration Research Funding Case Analysis
When Washington Pulls the Plug on a Grant The Okorocha Firm Notes on California Law Federal Power · Academic Funding When Washington Pulls the Plug on a Grant In Thakur v. Trump, the Ninth Circuit split the difference for University of California researchers: viewpoint-based cancellations stay vulnerable, while routine terminations…
When the Phone Call Isn’t Enough — People v. Houston
When the Phone Call Isn’t Enough — People v. Houston California Criminal Procedure ● 20:40 When the Phone CallIsn’t Enough People v. Houston, the interrogation room, and the distance between a phone call and a car ride. The Okorocha Firm Suppression & Confessions Reading time · 9 min Picture the…
Bail Cannot Be Fake!
California Supreme Court: Bail Cannot Be Fake California Supreme Court · Pretrial Liberty Bail Cannot Be Fake In re Kowalczyk and the end of wealth-based pretrial detention. In re Kowalczyk, S277910 Decided April 30, 2026 · Guerrero, C. J. The End of Detention Disguised as a Number The California Supreme…
Drug Recognition Expert (DRE) Program Analysis
FORENSIC SCIENCE The DRE Hoax Anatomy of a forensic illusion: why the “Drug Recognition Expert” evaluation looks like science, and why its own validation studies prove almost nothing. Analysis — Forensics Desk · 12 min read · Sources: Kane 2013, Heishman 1996, UMFC 2021 A police officer shines a penlight…
Kosecki PA, Brooke PJ, Raines ME. Lack of fermentation in antemortem blood samples stored unstoppered in various locations. J Forensic Sci. 2023
By ToxGIrl The Study That Proved Nothing: A Close Read of the “No Fermentation” Paper The Forensic Margin● Toxicology / Evidence Critical Read · Blood-Alcohol Science The Study That Proved Nothing A 2023 paper is increasingly cited to shut down “fermentation” defenses in DUI cases. Read closely, it answers a…
Anabolic-Androgenic Steroids
A Visual Forensic Guide to Ten Prevalent Compounds Pharmacokinetics, detection science, clinical profile, and litigation use for attorneys, judges, and forensic professionals By ToxGirl The legal point:AAS cases are rarely won or lost on the label “steroid.” They turn on compound identity, detection window, confirmation method, dose/timeline fit, and whether…
What the Largest U.S. Governtment’s Drugged-Driving Study Actually Found
When prosecutors, the press, or a juror’s intuition tell you that “drugs cause crashes,” there is one study they should be made to confront: the 2015 NHTSA case-control study by Richard Compton and Amy Berning, Drug and Alcohol Crash Risk (DOT HS 812 117). It remains the largest, most carefully…
The Kitagawa Balloon Test: What the Inventors and the Earliest Validators Already Knew
By Okorie Okorocha, J.D., M.S., M.S. The Kitagawa balloon test, more precisely the Kitagawa-Wright detector-tube method, issometimes treated in courtrooms and older case files as if it were a scientificallygrounded measurement of blood-alcohol concentration. It is not. The most strikingfeature of the historical record is that the people best positioned…
