A TOTAL REFUSAL IS NOT PROBABLE CAUSE !

The Boiling Coffey Pot: last night I find out a sweet, bright young new lawyer (I mentored her by letting her sit second chair for experience) got arrested for DWI by Keller PD cop Hicks (badge # 154) after she got pulled over for not using a turn signal and telling him she only had one drink. Naturally, she refused all the tests (as he wasn't believing her) and he got a warrant for her blood. Result ? No ethanol. The DA refused to file her case. The ALR judge suspended her license even with evidence of the ZERO ethanol toxicology report ! Bullshit. Here is what is wrong with this picture: the fact that the cop arrested her for probable cause in the first place. Saying NO to everything because the cop has NOTHING is NOT probable cause to arrest and it is high time cops, da(s), and judges start holding them to this and throwing out total refusal bullshit arrests. You either have evidence or you don't ! This is not the middle east, we as free American citizens DON"T HAVE TO prove anything. Typical descriptors like "odor of alcohol and bloodshot eyes" is NOT probable cause. Jimminy Christmas. I swear to God, this type of behavior is worse than Communism.

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Can A DWI Affect My Eligibility For Global Entry?

In general, all United States citizens and lawful permanent residents possess eligibility to apply for Global Entry. This is a program through Customs and Border Protection that allows for expedited clearance for pre-approved, low-risk travelers. That said, Customs my deny eligibility for a variety of reasons such as providing false information on the application and a finding of customs violation for *any* country (not just US Customs violations). However, there are 3 important reasons related to criminal defense that everyone should know. First, Customs may deny eligibility if you have been denied for the purchase of a firearm. This restriction is important because firearm restrictions may, on occasion, be a condition of a criminal charge, even if the charge is dismissed. Further, a denial of a firearm purchase may show Customs that you are not a “low-risk” traveler based on the reason for denial. Second, Customs may deny eligibility if you are the subject of an *ongoing investiga...

Texas Not Following Accrediting Agency Standards in Blood Testing

Mimi Coffey in a Gas Chromatography Lab 2023 Everyone knows you can’t compare apples to oranges yet this is what many Texas forensic laboratories are doing. ANSI/ANAB standards (who accredit Texas crime labs) are very specific on both quality control and method validation requiring some whole blood samples to be tested to adjust for the matrix effects that blood samples introduce in gas chromatography testing. Yet, most north Texas labs still ignore these “shall” (not optional) mandates opting to use aqueous samples (water based). Blood has compounds that interfere in analytical readings that water based calibrators and controls go not have. Does this affect the result? 100%. Absolutely. One study in Austin estimated an increase in alcohol (ethanol) by 20%. This is just one Texas government lab’s findings. Bottom line- don’t trust the blood result. The State must do better.

Lying Witnesses: The Shabby State of Criminal Justice in our Country

The American Criminal Justice System: “Houston, We have a Problem.” James Ferguson Mark Fuhrman, convicted of a felony perjury after the O.J. Simpson trial, is now a national Fox legal analyst, an “expert witness” on police matters. Last week, the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati, Ohio, ruled “Dr.” James Ferguson, a state toxicologist, convicted of perjury, could NOT be sued or found liable for lying in a murder case where his expert witness testimony was relied upon by the judge for the conviction. Fred Zain, toxicologist at the West Virginia Department of Public Safety, falsified lab results which resulted in as many as 134 wrongful convictions. Once under investigation, he merely picked up and moved to San Antonio, Texas to work as a toxicologist where an investigation found at least 180 cases in which fraud may have led to wrongful convictions. He died in the comforts of his Florida home in 2002. Picking up the pieces in Boston, Massachusetts, over 34,000 lab...

Mimi Coffey | Attorney at Law

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