Mimi Coffey | Attorney at Law

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 ...

Just finished reading The Young Jefferson by Claude G. Bowers. What struck me was that an enlightened people limits government not trusts it.  Jefferson, when it comes to political ideology defines "enlightened." As a lawyer, what rings the loud gong bell for me is his wisdom in ensuring the "Bill of Rights" which is for practical reasons, the only safeguard we have today against encroachment and police tyranny (namely the 4th amendment). There are several political lessons to be learned in this story. After Independence, and it was his hand that so beautifully coined the magic phrases that defined a movement (his and Tom Paine's Common Sense) Thomas Jefferson found himself in France as our diplomat to our chief ally. His main and constant thorns were trying to calm down the debtors (international as well as French) who were owed money that funded our Revolution because the weak Articles of Confederation rendered our government powerless in levying taxes, respon...

I could not believe the DAs wanted to try my guy- he gets pulled over for 71/65 on a toll road, according to the police report he was polite and courteous throughout the investigation.  He looks great on the walk test (taking too many steps because the rookie cop gives him the incorrect instructions), normal on the one leg test and solid balance on the eye test as the cop does it wrong (does not matter anyway because the HGN may indicate alcohol but it does not correlate it to an amount and there are 37 other judicially recognized causes of it).  The case went to trial, why?  I have it on good authority one of the DAs needed a "stat", for you see, stats add up to promotions within the office which means raises.  Dwi arrests in dallas county add up, I wish I was kidding.  Someone's life is at stake who has spent thousands in his defense, a cop who makes probable cause arrests not at all uncomfortable with the case being worked out, and we spend 2 days...

What it Truly Takes to Be a Good Leader, Good Lawyer---- My Advice to the Aspiring Young Without going into details  of names and jurisdictions and suffice it to say that as a longtime member and now a Regent of the NCDD, I am privy to the politics of great leaders across the country… It came to my attention recently that two lawyers I dearly admire (one a lawyer, one a judge) are dealing with what lawyers should never deal with: one a grand jury subpoena, the other a grand jury investigation.  Bottom line, my opinion, both will probably rise above the fray on legal grounds  but regardless, I strongly believe both could have avoided their plights.  The key ? Do your job.  Just  do your job and refrain from negative comments and backlashing.  There is no reason to engage in personal attacks. Although it is very hard sometimes to hold back, calling someone by name “a bully” (whether or not it’s true) or threatening an FBI investigation will sometime...

We have the same blood test issues in Texas. http://www.azcentral.com/community/scottsdale/articles/20130822judge-throws-out-blood-tests-scottsdale-dui-cases.html?nclick_check=1

Mass hysteria is a form of groupthink, in which several people with something in common begin to think in the same way. In mass hysteria, the group members all develop a common fear that often spirals into a panic. The group members feed off each other's emotional reactions, causing the panic to escalate.Some riots, witch hunts and other events can be linked to mass hysteria. (about.com)  DWI has turned into a sociological mass hysteria. Our highways blare out Drink.Drive.Go to Jail. and  other similar campaigns, our radios and tv networks broadcast DWI commercials, nationwide many companies have policies that terminate an employee or refuses to hire one based on a DWI, apartment and housing complexes are turning away tenants for a DWI, families are becoming divorced over DWI. Thus the ever present need for a Good Lawyer . The public is scared of DWI only second to terrorism.  This groupthink  people with something in common that started this hysteria was MADD. ...

Mimi Coffey Words to Those Accused of DWI: If you get arrested for DWI please do yourself a favor: 1.        Write out a 10 page autobiography of yourself (a recent Harvard grad told me his high school forced him to do it and it helped him fill out a successful application to Harvard). Focus on your achievements, what makes you shine above and beyond others, your contributions to society. 2.        Pick out ten pictures that define your life (kids, being a little league coach, a wedding pic) and buy a mini photo album and make a pictorial storybook that highlights your life(or go to shutterfly.com and make a photo book with your explanations and narrations or places like Walmart do this too).   3.        Write out on paper the two biggest challenges in your life and what you did to get over them. Detail how long it’s been since then and how you now look back at those challenges and ta...

Now that the verdict is in, a few thoughts: 1. Trayvon Martin was a 17 year old kid who purchased his iced tea and Skittles from a neighborhood convenience outlet and was walking home in his own neighborhood. THIS IS NOT A CRIME NOR IS IT ILLEGAL OR SUSPICIOUS. 2. Zimmerman was told by 911 to stop following Trayvon. 911 operators are trained on what actions to take and recommend. Zimmerman articulated NO reasonable suspicion for police intervention much less his own. Zimmerman showed total disregard for law enforcement by taking matters into his own hands. 3. A NOT GUILTY verdict does NOT mean Zimmerman is innocent. As it is not uncommon in murder trials with no direct eyewitnesses, Zimmerman benefitted because his was the ONLY side of the story presented. 4. Zimmerman lied about very basic stuff: the streets involved (maybe he was trying to throw off cops from neighborhood witnesses), the screams being his (when he first heard the screams played by the detective he said that i...

Catchy title, right ? Deliberately chosen for two reasons: 1) if the public becomes aware then changes may actually occur and 2) most people who need a self defense lawyer NEED to know this. The two major points are:  the way lawyers practice and become licensed needs drastic improvement and the old stereotype of lawyers is wrong. First, a fact: there are TOO many lawyers. Another fact: people don't like lawyers. They generally rate them next to car salesmen in most untrusted professions. The problem: why are there too many lawyers ? The old stereotype of parents wanting their kids to be successful so they encourage them to be doctors or lawyers has come and gone. Doctors maybe still (mainly because there is a shortage of them, they come at a premium), but most lawyers are lucky to find jobs coming out of law school (it's amazing how many resumes I get every time I have an associate position open) and very few out of law school start at 85k. The average criminal defense ...