Mimi Coffey | Attorney at Law

People think DWI blood tests are 100% accurate. Yet this is not true. People assume that a blood score is like DNA evidence- irrefutable. Once again, this is not true. People give up hope and resolve to plead guilty or no contest to their DWI thinking it is impossible to win. This is sadly not true. I was abhorred when a Houston blood expert (Ph.D in chemistry and former state lab forensic scientist) explained to me that if the lab tech accidentally pipettes one quarter of an extra drop into the test tube the score can be .07 too high! I was equally mortified when I learned that many results come from labs that do not properly validate their machines. A result is only as good as its measurements. These measurements must be properly tested (lower limit of detection, etc.) before one can rely on them.  In June of 2023 I will be spending a week in a university gas chromatography lab teaching other lawyers about the issues with testing. This will be my second time in this particular la...

The News has reported that inmates in jails are being released due to covid-19.  Is this true? Yes. It has been reported and confirmed that inmates in Harris County, Dallas County, some Texas prisons and a juvenile detention center have the coronavirus.  This is a problem due to increased community spread in the jail environment; which outside of putting inmates' health in danger, endangers the lives of the jail and prison staff and adds more pressure to the hospital community. Are jails and prisons releasing inmates? Yes. This is not a blanket wide release of everyone in jail or prison. Each state, jurisdiction (federal or state), and county is making their own guidelines on release.  75% of all inmates in Texas county jails are not convicted. They are awaiting their case resolutions.   What about the release of violent offenders? Govenor Abbot issued executive order GA 13 which forbids the release of anyone who has been convicted of ...

The problem with criminal justice in the current United States is one which requires a major paradigm shift.  Police academies across the country are training to shoot first, have major discussions later. Police officers are evaluated in their job evaluations on how many arrests they make. Young district attroneys learn fast that trying lots of cases reflects well on advancement, even if they are trying cases that have no business being tried. Young prosecutors, fresh from law school, are thrown out into the world with very little life experience and a lot of power to wield. They know the laws, but don't understand their power. For example, here is where power runs awry. A police officer encounters a recent high school graduate on a speeding ticket. He smells fresh marijuana emanating from the car. Although the kid has a clean record and this is her first real brush with the law, the cop arrests her. An inexperienced, young prosecutor with little life experience gets the case...

The biggest misconception in a DWI is to correlate a single bad driving behavior with guilt in a DWI. Whether it be a jerk (failure to maintain a single lane), accident (losing control and hitting something like a curb, pole, or another car), or stopping too long at a stop light, this may very well be evidence of driver inattention unrelated to intoxication. I have analyzed thousands of DWI cases and have tried over 300. What I typically find is a prosecutor who argues that the driving behavior which so often happens due to driver inattention be argued as clear evidence that a person is intoxicated. This is simply not fact. The facts are that every day drivers commit these violations due to distraction, inattention, fatigue or a host of other factors. Accidents are so common that the law mandates a driver operate a motor vehicle on our public roads with liability insurance. The mere fact that a driver commits these with alcohol or a substance (medication, drugs, caffeine, etc.) in ...

Mimi Coffey is an attorney with 23 years experience. She is certified in DWI defense by the National College of DUI Defense (NCDD). She is a Regent with the National College of DUI Defense. She is the chairman of the NCDD Forensics Committee.  With offices in both Dallas and Tarrant Counties, she serves the entire metroplex. Mimi has appeared as a legal commentator for CNN, National Fox News, and local Dallas/Fort Worth stations on DWI-related stories. She is also a frequent speaker at both national and state-wide seminars. Mimi is an experienced attorney with a proven trial record (over 300 cases, with 80% of them being jury trials). Her successes include everything from .21 breath tests, blood tests to 3 car accident cases. Mimi’s cases have also made excellent case law for the State of Texas. She even sued the Texas Department of Public Safety in federal court on the Texas DPS surcharge program. She has won the ...

How it feels to have a DWI is something critically important to understand for anyone dealing with a person who has been arrested for DWI, whether that be for a family member, employer, etc. The amount of people who get arrested for a DWI every year is akin to the amount of people who get diagnosed with cancer (approx. 1.4 million, although this number has been decreasing). By understanding what it feels like to be accused of a DWI with true respect and empathy, we help everyone. 1. Trauma . Although lumped in with criminal activity, people who get arrested for DWI did not set out to perpetrate a crime on society.  This is a very important distinction.  People who get DWIs feel tremendous remorse and shame at the title "DWI" because they would never intentionally hurt someone. For most, it was an occasion of social drinking which ended in an arrest.  Imagine being called a child abuser, or a sex offender.  The mere thought of being lumped in a category of causin...

Last week my best friend turned 50 (we were born and raised here in Tarrant County, Texas). We both graduated from C.F. Brewer High School on the west side of Fort Worth. It was great to actually catch up and spend some time with classmates at her party that I generally never get to see. One of them leaned over and asked me, "Mimi, do the judges of Tarrant County try to help people?"  I looked at her, everyone at the table in eager anticipation, and had an answer they did not expect to hear. Here is the truth, if you can't fall asleep in a parked car in a parking lot in order to avoid a DWI, the county has big issues. I would not say that those judges are trying to help people. I would say the exact opposite. They are sending a message that it is better to risk trying to make it home because if you do the responsible thing and not drive you will be convicted.  I have had juries say Not Guilty in these circumstances. This is because the law does not define "operate...

Marijuana alone never killed anyone, unlike alcohol or an excess of sugar consumption over a lifetime (diabetes, etc.). Most people reading this blog could care less about legalizing marijuana because they can't understand how it affects them. Oh, but it does. It is rather simple. 1. Taxes. It costs approximately $45k a year to house an inmate in Texas (juvenile costs are far higher).  The amount of money Texas taxpayers pay for prisons and jails is staggering.  People can't seem to understand this is real.  I have a client who has a pending marijuana case in Johnson County. It is a felony because it is not in leaf format- the marijuana concentration is in a few gummy bears. The assistant district attorney has offered a ten year probation sentence which includes a prison rehab (called SAFP) for 6 months to a year.  Ludicrous.  Why send my food delivery guy into a school for hardened criminals where he will come out far worse than when he went in?  News...

My 2nd year of law school at Texas Tech (I had 2 children during law school, this is Kiki my first) I think about my third son Spencer all the time as he just started his first year at Cornell Law School. This week, I came up with this list for him. These are the things I would go back and tell my young, full of wonder self  27 years ago. Maybe this can help other young law students or aspiring lawyers. 10 Things I would go back & tell my law school self: Focus on writing. It’s how the top lawyers in their field help other lawyers and share their knowledge en masse with the world. Publishing is essential. Give back. Look around and remember how your fellow students are struggling and need financial aid. Make it a goal to give back. It’s a worthy endeavor that I wish more lawyers would do. Show gratitude. Appreciate your professors. They have sacrificed an exciting life in the ring to teach. This is huge. Be kind. As you look around and feel the surging blood...

U.S. Representative and Senate Candidate Beto O'Rourke talked about his 1998 DWI arrest in the debate between him and Senator Ted Cruz. Captured above is his eloquent response.  Beto takes full responsibliity for his DWI, not minimizing it all or the seriousness of it (he was fortunate in that in exchange for some classes, his DWI was dismissed in a plea bargain which is almost nonexistent today). What is the important lesson in this is that he was able to move on from his DWI and have a second chance at life's opportunities. He was able to open a business, get elected to the El Paso City Council, get married, have 3 children and become a U.S. House of Representatives for his district.  It is so important that people get second chances. District attorneys should consider (just like Beto references in the above clip) that many people won't be able to successfully move on in the directions they had planned if they have to disclose to employers that they were convicted of a...

Getting a driver's license is a major life milestone, many see it as a right of passage. There are many hours involved in signing off as a parent "instructor" for a person's driver's license. One of the most embarrassing things that can happen is to have your child about ready to take their driver's license test and to be told at a Texas DPS counter that they don't qualify due to your DWI. Not to mention, having a driver's license application rejected because of this wastes many precious hours that will have to be redone by someone who qualifies. Many teenagers are turning to their parents in modern times to satisfy the driver's education requirement for a driver's license. A DWI conviction or ALR suspension can prevent a person from qualifying as an "instructor" for parent taught driver's education. Parent taught driver's education, formerly run by the Texas Department of Public Safety is now regulated by the Texas De...

Many DWIs involve risky behavior and accidents.  Alcohol may not be the only reason for such 'out of character' or abnormal behavior.  A new field of research is developing (as of the last 11+ years) into parasites that affect the brain. It has become increasingly clear that what was once deemed a harmless parasite, toxoplasma gondii (found in cat feces), is in fact dangerous to the brain. Jaroslav Flegr published his research in the May 2007 Schizophrenia Bulletin (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2526142/ ) some of his findings regarding this cat parasite that attaches to human hosts. First off, 80% of the population may be infected. In Prague, Czechoslovakia it was determined that Toxoplasma - infected subjects were 2.65x higher to be involved in a traffic accident either as a pedestrian or driver. The effects on neuropathological and neuroimmunological pathways are a cause and effect from how the body protects itself from this pathogen, and how the parasite ...

I remember when a bond for a first time DWI was $500. Now, in Tarrant County a person accused of a first time DWI, with no other criminal history, stays in jail for up to 3 days as the system "processes" their income level to set an appropriate bond (where many will do a government pretrial bond) . People are being shipped from small municipalities to the central Tarrant County jail before this is done.  The law allows magistrates up to 72 hours to set a bond and unfortunately, this is about how long it is taking.  Moreover, once a person bonds out many are required to report to pretrial services. Here, they are paying fees and taking drug tests before they are even convicted. I have a current Parker County client who has not had a DWI in 21 years and the magistrate ordered that he have a $500 a month SCRAM bracelet (measures your sweat for alcohol),plus an interlock on any vehicle he drives. He must also report to pretrial services in Parker County once a week. His case is...

One of my favorite lines is "I don't trust anyone who has not had a DWI." Truthfully, my clients are among my favorite people. They are social, resourceful and gregarious. Most drinking in a DWI scenario involves socializing with other people. The Barbara Streisand line, "People who need people, are the luckiest people in the world" is so true. It is important for prosecutors, judges, and jurors to understand the life changing consequences of a DWI conviction. Here are 3 consequences that some people may not be familiar with: Our Family (Willy, our German exchange son, is in a Texas shirt) 1. You can't host a foreign exchange student for 5 years from the conviction.   2.  If you have a green card ("Permanent Resident") and receive a DWI conviction,  finalizing the process and becoming a citizen is difficult. I am not an immigration lawyer (if you are in this situation, you should also consult with an immigration attorney),...

The State Bar of Texas regulates all lawyer advertising. For a lawyer to advertise a flyer, billboard, website, or other solicitation, they must pay a fee to the State Bar of Texas and adhere to the advertising and ethics rules that bind Texas lawyers. The State Bar of Texas will review the advertisement and either approve or disprove of its use. The rules are in place to protect the public from false advertising. However, the State Bar is having a hard time keeping up with cunning new ways for marketers to profit from lawyers and trick the public. The above letter I received from the mail is an example of 'for profit' entrepreneurship. For $410, I can have a plaque and use a logo on my website that touts me as one of America's "Most Feared Lawyers." The question is by whom? Who owns this company that goes by "De Medici Ratings"? How many lawyers vote? What lawyers vote? I have received at least 2-3 other such solicitations in the mail from compan...

Making the World a Better Place Judge David Rippel Collin County Court at Law no 4 As a people’s attorney (defense lawyer standing up for the citizen against the government in the defense of one’s constitutional rights) for 20 years, the wisdom I have gained in what makes the world a better place is truly invaluable. Here are a few nuggets and observations. A court focused on their statistics (how many trials they have a year, how old their oldest cases are, the number of dispositions), is not one that is attentive to the needs of the citizen accused or society as a whole. You can’t force justice. Most of the time, it is like baking a cake. For all the parts to come together perfectly- it takes time. Courts that harangue defense lawyers by not allowing them some say in scheduling, do this to everyone’s (including theirs) detriment. This is a court concerned about bragging rights to their fellow colleagues. The fact is- hardly anyone knows the judges they are vot...

Where do I begin? Judges, jurors, district attorneys, cops, MADD? Let's start where it belongs: the National Highway Safety Administration (NHTSA). Back in 1977, the government gave NHTSA a grant to create some roadside tests for DWI arrests. Dr. Marcelline Burns, who holds a Ph.D in psychology was given carte blanche authority on this project. She came up with the field tests we know today. Her research was so bad (flunking on both the validity and reliability scales researchers measure tests against), that she reattempted her same research in 1981 with the same scientifically unacceptable results. This time she refused to release the validity data. Same story- when the feds lowered the legal limit from .10 to .08 she conducted three "studies" (San Diego, Colorado, and Florida) in an attempt to justify her tests to the lower legal limit. It was such a massive failure she refused to release the validity or reliability data. Federal judge Grimm in an exhaustive review...

St. Augustine said, “The world is a book and those who do not travel read only one page.” The same goes for law. This past week I travelled to Missouri to speak at their annual DWI conference. It was held at the Tan Tar A Resort in Osage Beach, Missouri. On top of work, I spent weeks in advance preparing my talk entitled “DWI Defense- Texas Style.” Little did I know, I would be the one be learning. The Missouri lawyers were so hospitable even providing me with two of their kind lawyers personally taking time out of their schedule to provide me with rides to and from the airport (a two hour drive!) Their magnanimity was sweeping. If I wasn’t in my room fine tuning the speech, it was only to sleep and shower. They graciously hosted me to dinners, happy hours, late night parties. They even invited me to swim (they have a slide at their big pool). Travis Noble, one of the state’s most respected DWI lawyers approached me with a big bag of cigars informing me he knew of my taste for repose...

THE law entitles a citizen accused to a public defender if they are indigent. Indigent would be defined as receiving government assistance for subsistence (unemployment, food stamps, and public housing). The courts require proof of this and to receive a public defender without financially qualifying is a theft offense, which is a crime of moral turpitude and serious. Most people think that a public defender is free to them. It is not. Although the taxpayers pay for this legal service (some counties have a public defender’s office- others use a wheel court appointment system), it is not free to the citizen accused. The law allows the court to order the defendant to pay back the services (at a much discounted rate) back as a condition of the plea or sentence. If it is a dismissal, the judge can order these fees paid back (proof) before the dismissal is signed. The court appointment system does not amount to getting a “free lawyer.” People in prison make the distinction of “free...