WESTMINSTER, Calif. — A judge in Orange County Superior Court ruled March 13 that there was sufficient evidence to hold a man for trial on felony methamphetamine possession and related charges following a preliminary hearing at the Westminster West Justice Center.
In Department 17 of the courthouse, Judge Whitney L. Bokosky presided over the preliminary hearing for a man who has pleaded not guilty to a felony complaint alleging possession of methamphetamine with two or more prior convictions, possession of drug paraphernalia, and violation of a protective and stay-away order.
Before starting the hearing, Judge Bokosky issued two disclaimers: that she had been a prosecutor for the district attorney’s office for 18 years, and that she received Monterey funds from the community to support her in becoming a judge.
She won election to the Orange County Superior Court on March 5, 2024, after the general election was canceled. She assumed her position as a judge on Jan. 6, 2025.
The prosecution representing the People of California called an officer to the stand to testify. The peace officer has served with the Huntington Beach Police Department for six years.
During that time, she testified that she has investigated more than 100 cases involving methamphetamine. She attended the California police academy, which included a 12-hour course on drugs and narcotics, and trained for six months with the Huntington Beach Police Department.
The prosecution asked the officer, “What is a usable amount” of methamphetamine?
The officer responded, “No exact quantity, just any amount a user feels they can get high off of.”
She described methamphetamine as an “off-white crystallized substance.” Once smoked, the officer testified, the substance “turns dark in color, black or dark brown.”
When asked, the officer also confirmed that tin foil, plastic straws, needles and pipes are items she has seen used to ingest drugs.
On Sept. 22, 2025, at about 5:25 p.m., the officer testified that she was dispatched to respond to a call reporting two people smoking narcotics in a van using a glass pipe.
Upon arriving at the scene, she observed a male and a female seated in the back of the van. The female confirmed that the vehicle belonged to her.
The officer also observed probation status paperwork sitting in full view on the dashboard.
The officer searched the accused and found nothing on his person. However, when searching the vehicle, she said she located a broken glass pipe where the accused had been sitting and a silicone container containing a black substance.
At that point, on Sept. 22, the accused told the officer the substance was tar. When asked again, he said it was methamphetamine.
The accused also told the officer the drugs belonged to him.
During cross-examination, Deputy Public Defender Jose Rodriguez confirmed with the officer that she wrote what she described as a “complete, accurate, thorough, and honest” report.
However, the officer acknowledged that she did not review her body-worn camera footage and did not identify herself as a police officer to the accused, though she did tell the accused and the female in the vehicle why she was there.
The officer further testified that the subjects were cooperative.
She weighed the substance, including the silicone container, at 6.62 grams, but she did not test the substance in a lab.
The prosecution then questioned the officer again. Through that questioning, it was established that the protected party named in the protective order was the female subject who had been in the van with the accused.
The officer testified that the substance in the silicone container was burnt methamphetamine and that the accused had allegedly already smoked it but likely removed it from the pipe and placed it in the container to save it to smoke again.
Judge Bokosky asked the officer whether she had seen methamphetamine of that color in the field before, and the officer confirmed that she had.
Finally, Deputy Public Defender Rodriguez asked the court to reduce count one of the felony complaint — possession of methamphetamine with two or more prior convictions — to a misdemeanor.
Judge Bokosky ruled that Penal Code section 11395(b), or count one, would remain a felony in light of the accused’s felony domestic violence charge, the existence of the protective order and the accused’s prior conviction under section 11377 for possession of methamphetamine.
Judge Bokosky set the trial date for March 26 in Department C5 at the Santa Ana courthouse.
Before dismissing the accused, Judge Bokosky reminded him to obey the protective order or he would “keep racking up misdemeanor charges.”
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