Los Angeles Superior Court Expert Witness Panel Letter
Re: Expert Witness Panel Application
Dear Expert Witness Panel Committee:
I am writing to address my concerns regarding my repeated and continued exclusion from the Los Angeles Superior Court expert witness panel. I am a Black man who has been licensed by the California State Bar since 2003. I hold a bachelor’s degree in biology, a Juris Doctorate, a Master of Science in Pharmaceutical Sciences with a specialization in Forensic Science, and a second Master of Science degree in Forensic Toxicology. I have tried at least 80 criminal cases as first chair in my legal career, which includes DUIs, misdemeanors of all sorts, and felony cases, including homicide. I also have litigated civil cases throughout my career. I am a highly sought-after toxicology expert witness nationwide, especially in high-profile cases.
Of great concern is that I am a toxicologist and have testified as an expert in over 880 cases, which include 56 counties throughout California, 27 U.S. states, and even abroad in Japan
and Germany. Los Angeles is the only county, where my career began, that has excluded me. I have applied to the panel numerous times over the last 15 or so years.
As a result of the disparate treatment that I have experienced, I have filed numerous discrimination complaints. I have no reason to believe that my complaints have been investigated because no one has reached out to me to address my concerns or provide me with a valid explanation for my exclusion from the panel. As a result, it is apparent that I have not been allowed on the panel because of my repeated discrimination complaints.
Most recently, the Los Angeles Public Defender’s office filed a California Racial Justice Act motion regarding the prejudicial and completely nonsensical rulings of the Los Angeles Superior Court barring any reference to me as an “expert.” I view this as patently harmful to my career and a restriction of trade.
I was notified that the Los Angeles Superior Court held a meeting to exclude or “blackball” me in my efforts to testify as an expert and become a member of the panel. It is my understanding that a group of judges held this meeting in June 2025.
The only excuse I ever received for why I was excluded from the panel was that I am an attorney, which I find hard to believe is a legitimate basis for panel exclusion.
I am a forensic toxicologist. The very definition of “Forensics” is a legal determination and is ALWAYS for a contested tribunal proceeding. Any expert witness should have some legal training and understand relevance and burdens of proof to be effective and competent.
An expert’s proper legal acumen ensures a litigant’s right to a fair trial, particularly the 5th and 6th amendments of the United States Constitution. The right to a fair trial is enshrined in the 6th amendment, and “due process of law” must exist under the 5th amendment in any proceeding that denies a citizen “life, liberty, or property.” Typically, if improper evidence and expert opinions are presented, it only tends to prejudice the defendant. Many of the non-attorneys on your panel do not have the skill set or educational background to ensure these crucial fundamental rights are afforded to litigants. Because these rights are so important, I am witness to not only having their constitutional rights disregarded but also my own in being forced to be a toxicology expert for the Los Angeles County Public Defender’s office on a volunteer or pro bono basis. It is a miscarriage of justice that I am not being paid for my services when others who have been allowed on the panel are, and they are less qualified than me.
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It should also be taken into consideration that many universities now understand the need for legal training for forensic experts and have dual degree programs for a Master of Science degree in Forensics and a Juris Doctor. For example, see:
https://artsandsciences.syracuse.edu/degree-programs/jdms-forensic-science
https://www.jjay.cuny.edu/ma-jd-forensic-psychology-and-law-ny-law-school
https://www.hofstra.edu/linguistics/juris-doctor-forensic-linguistics-joint-degree.html
https://www.uakron.edu/cba/graduate/programs/joint-degree/jdmsa.dot
https://www.law.du.edu/academics/jd-degrees-certificates/dual-degrees.
Non-African Americans, like DeWayne Beckner and Edmund Barley and most of the non- Black people on the toxicology panel have had a striking impact on criminal cases due to not having the proper background to testify as toxicologists. They have been placed on the panel with only a bachelor’s degree, no formal education in toxicology, no formal education in pharmacology, no formal education in forensics, and no legal training. On the other hand, I have two master of science degrees in forensic pharmacology and forensic toxicology.
No law supports the notion that the court/government has the authority to determine who the defense experts are by perfunctorily excluding me from the panel. It is a conflict of interest, as the court is supposed to be un-biased and all parties are entitled to a fair trial.
Please provide a reasoned written response to my application to help preserve the record for review in the event the above issues are forced to be addressed in another forum.
Very Respectfully,
Okorie Okorocha
OKORIE OKOROCHA, M.S., M.S., ESQ.
