Mimi Coffey | Attorney at Law

Yes, it's that time of year- where everyone wants to party on New Year's Eve but fears a DWI. If I wasn't a DWI lawyer, I would not know what to do, so in that spirit here are my tips based on 19 years of experience. Please be advised that different states have different laws and if you are on probation, these tips don't apply as most probations condition you fully cooperate with a DWI investigation. If you are in Texas and NOT on DWI probation, take heed. First I would like to add, that the best thing is to try to avoid putting yourself in this situation. I highly advise UBER, a cab, or a designated driver. Speaking of which, if you TRULY have not consumed too much make sure you have a portable breath test device (you can buy them in the automotive section of Walmart) in your car. Blow into it if you get pulled over, show the cop. It is one of the smartest ways of avoiding being arrested. I have a fellow Regent in the NCDD who did this.  No cop wants to realistically...

The Court of Criminal Appeals (the highest court in Texas) rendered that a rushed juror who regretted his decision and cooperated with the defense in a motion for new trial is not good enough evidence to overturn a verdict. In Colyer v. State, 428 S.W. 3d, 117 (2014), the jury foreperson testified that his verdict was not a true verdict because he was rushed into judgment. He detailed that the late time of day, distance to the parking lot, approaching inclement weather, and amount of time it took for the Judge to respond to the jury’s notes, caused him to rush to a guilty verdict that he later regretted. He meticulously described how he received an emergency phone call from a doctor regarding his daughter. After this, and worried about her serious condition, he stopped deliberating. He hurriedly rushed the other jurors to judgment, agreeing with them without forming his own true opinion. This information later came to the court's attention. The defense made a proper motion f...

The Texas Department of Public Safety laboratory in Houston was responsible for thousands of botched results (some completely fraudulent) because of lab analyst Jonathan Salvador. This occurred from 2006-2012. The Texas Forensic Commission got wind of his questionable work and launched an investigation. One of the commissioners in the investigation, Dr. Nizam Peerwani concluded that the Texas Department of Public Safety lab's office "tolerated under-performance". So this was not just a problem from the analyst, but the whole lab shared culpability. Rather than properly address the problems after this scandal in order to improve testing, Texas DPS convinced our legislators to restricting test results in court only to them. Hence, Texas Code of Criminal Procedure 38.35 was enacted that restricts test results admitted to court to be limited to those of a lab with the Texas DPS certification. Laboratories like Max Courtney's was shut down immediately. Max Courtney...

Ohio Judge Amy Salerno is under heat now for approaching and chastising a jury  after they found the defendant (name protected for expunction purposes the defendant may pursue) Not Guilty of Assault and Disorderly Conduct. She told them “99% of the time the jury is correct. Now it’s 98%. You got this wrong.” One juror, feeling berated, burst into tears and another juror requested an escort home for safety reasons as the judge’s outburst was made in the midst of the alleged victim’s agitated family and friends. The judge further went on to state she would have her chance to get the defendant regardless of the jury’s verdict because he had other cases pending in her court (which were later dismissed by the prosecutor). Here is what is wrong with this picture: 1. The Code of Conduct for U.S. Judges states in Canon 3: A judge shall perform the duties of the office fairly, impartially and diligently. It further states under Canon 3 A (3): A judge should be patient, dignified, res...

First, let me start off with a very important fact that many may not know: for every single DWI conviction in the state of Texas, Texas DPS sends a separate bill (outside of all the fees and punishment in court) called a DWI surcharge that ranges from $3,000 to $6,000 (depends on the type of DWI) to the convicted citizen. They have even tried to do it to people who possess out of state licenses although they don't qualify for the surcharge. Anyone who thinks Texas DPS does not have a financial interest in DWI convictions is sorely mistaken. My story is just one of many across the state and it is shameful to share. This week I went to court to discuss a ".09" blood test, first time DWI with a prosecutor in Dallas. I explained that my client and I had the blood retested with a better qualified lab, one which is well respected in  private industry and whom the federal government uses (Department of Health and Human Services). The result came back .07. Once you consider ...

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...

http://www.wftv.com/news/news/local/brevard-judge-accused-punching-public-defender/ngCGC/ What is wrong with this picture ? On the surface of it, it looks like a judge challenged a defense lawyer to a fight and they both mutually agreed to duke it out behind the courtroom. However, this is NOT the case at all for MANY reasons.  When you watch recent news clips, you don’t see defense lawyers telling news reporters that Judge John Murphy has “issues.”  No, of course not ! How could they expect to get good plea bargains, rulings and judgments from the judge once they go on the news criticizing him ? Let’s get real. So what does the public really know for those who don’t know the judge and who don’t practice criminal law ?  Here is why this is SO important. First of all, the venue. A courtroom has rules of decorum. There to enforce the rules are bailiffs. One cannot yell, demean people, or physically fight in court. To make sure it is a safe environment, the public, ...

A History Lesson in Aaron Burr When it comes to Aaron Burr, history has it wrong. I asked my son Spencer to show me his American History book this year so I could inspect its reportings on Aaron Burr. As suspected, there was a short blurb void of facts and a speculative conclusory statement referencing Burr's dubious ambition in separating the American west from the east, even though this is not true.  The Texas School Board, is not alone, despite its notorious criticisms. One can go back to real time obituaries of Aaron Burr and read such innuendos.  History is for those who write it. History does not always add up to facts.  That is why I decided to get down into the complex minutiae of the actual Aaron Burr trials so that I could grasp the issues clearly.  I had no idea that his case was the definitive case that gave our citizens in practical reality the right to counsel, the right to bail, the right to confront one's accusers, the right to inspect evidence. M...

Involuntary Intoxication Reality: Texas be Alarmed ! “I no longer knew what was real and what wasn’t. The lines between reality and delusion had become so blurred.” ― A.B. Shepherd, The Beacon This is what has happened to judges in courts across Texas when it comes to DWI charges.  The penal code was created to punish crime and thereby deter others from committing the same crime.  Most crimes involve people making bad moral choices, choices that hurt others.  Most crimes involve intent to commit the crime. The law recognizes we cannot punish people for actions they did not or could not reasonably have intended.  That is why we have defenses that include mistake of fact, mistake of law, duress, entrapment, self defense, and necessity to name a few.  Yet the defenses for being intoxicated as a victim, either because of accident or being drugged unknowingly have been soundly rejected by Texas courts.  Texas addresses intoxication, th...

Man gets arrested for warning drivers about upcoming speed traps. He is also against how the speed traps are being enforced (cops hiding behind signs and jetting out weaving in and out of traffic to catch the speeders is more dangerous than most of the speeding driving they are pursuing). My two cents: this is a free country, he has a right to protest, and he makes a good point. I realize most cities now earn a necessary part of their administration fees through the traffic ticket fines they collect but this does not make it right. Much like the current national agenda to go create DWIs rather than just pull over the ones that have probable cause for DWI or are involved in accidents, just getting in your car and driving to work has turned into an opportunity for government to exploit us, much like driving a vehicle after drinking a beverage(s).  Thomas Jefferson once said, "My reading on history convinces me that most bad government results from too much government."   Traffi...

"In an authoritarian State it is considered permissable to alter the truth; to rewrite history retrospectively; to distort the news, suppress the true, add the false. Propaganda is substituted for information. In fact, in such a country you are not a citizen possessor of rights but a subject, and as such you owe to the State fanatical loyalty and supine obedience." Bottom line, our law enforcement, district attorneys and judges have lost reason for the propaganda machine of MADD politics. What happens then ? It is already happening here in the loss of the basic rights of the innocent until proven guilty citizen accused. A poignant passage of the book: "In every part of the world, wherever you begin by denying the fundamental liberties of mankind, and equality  among people, you move towards the concentration camp system, and it is a road on which it is difficult to halt." Sheriff Joe in Phoenix Arizona is already humiliating DWI inmates by putting them ...