“Driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs is dangerous and deadly.  Law enforcement officers do an excellent job working to identify those who are driving under the influence and to get them off the road before they harm themselves or others.  We appreciate the drug analysis work that is conducted at California Department of Justice forensic labs to assist law enforcement and prosecutors.”

– CSLEA President Alan Barcelona

MENDOCINO COUNTY– On January 17, 2023, a Mendocino County Superior Court jury found Kiya Nianne Hodge, 32, of Selma, Oregon, guilty of misdemeanor driving a motor vehicle while under the influence of ketamine. Hodge was also found guilty of being in knowing possession of unconsumed ketamine, also a misdemeanor.

According to the Mendocino County District Attorney’s Office which cites the Drug Enforcement Administration, ketamine is a dissociative anesthetic that has some hallucinogenic effects. It distorts perceptions of sight and sound and makes the user feel disconnected and not in control. While it has legitimate medical uses, it is abused on the streets for its ability to produce dissociative sensations and hallucinations.

Hodge was also found guilty by plea (without the jury being told) of a separate misdemeanor for driving in December on a suspended license, her license was suspended for having an excessive blood alcohol level discovered in an earlier Del Norte County DUI arrest.

The law enforcement agencies that investigated the Mendocino County DUI, performed drug analysis of suspected ketamine (as well as other seized drugs), and/or provided civilian witness support at the trial were the California Highway Patrol, the Department of Justice forensic laboratory in Santa Rosa, and the District Attorney’s Bureau of Investigations.