“DEFENDING YOUR REPUTATION IS AN IMPORTANT INVESTMENT. YOU WANT A BOARD-CERTIFIED PROFESSIONAL”- Mimi Coffey, DWI Defense Attorney.
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No Contact Means NO CONTACT
17 AprilFor bond conditions and protective orders, a “no contact” conditions means absolutely no contact. Fortunately, some courts are re-wording such conditions to only cover “harmful or injurious” contact instead of all contact. But, when your bond conditions cover all contact, this includes electronic contact. In other words, no texting, phone calls, emails or direct messages (DMs) on social media. Unfortunately, some courts even include “tagging” a person in a pho...
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Lesser Included Assault
17 AprilThough it seems like nonsense, regular assault is not a lesser included offense of assault by strangulation. This means that a person charged with a felony assault impeding breath or circulation cannot have a trial instruction a regular assault as a lesser included offense. The courts reasoning for this is that strangulation is a very specific type of bodily injury, so it requires different, additional facts for proof. In other words, assault by strangulation, by definition, excludes other injur...
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Days of Jail as a Condition of Probation
09 JanuaryDWI Probation Sometimes Includes Days in Jail as a Condition of Probation For certain DWI convictions, the law requires days of jail as a condition of probation. The good news is that a First Time misdemeanor DWI conviction does not have this requirement. The jail time as a condition of probation only comes into effect on a second or more DWI Conviction, or for Intoxication Assault or Intoxication Manslaughter conviction. The minimum days of a jail as a condition of probation is as follows: 72 h...
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DWI and Texas Driver’s License
07 DecemberDid you know that a DWI can affect your Texas Driver’s License? A DWI arrest may result in a suspension of your Texas Driver’s License. Having an experienced DWI law firm behind you is very important in protecting your rights. It is *incredibly* important to have a DWI Lawyer experienced in protecting your Texas Driver’s License. How can The Coffey Firm help with my Texas Driver’s License after a DWI arrest? The Coffey Firm is very familiar with the DWI license suspension...
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Felony DWI Damage Control
28 NovemberFelony DWIs are serious business that often require some DWI damage control. A Felony DWI in Texas is either a third or more DWI arrest or an arrest for DWI with a child passenger. Keep in mind that a DWI with child passenger is a State Jail Felony *even if it is a first time DWI*. Judges only see a name on a docket sheet and treat Felony DWIs harshly simply because they are felonies (even if you’ve never been in trouble before!). The Tarrant County DWI Lawyers at The Coffey Firm dedicate them...
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What To Look For in a top DWI Lawyer
18 NovemberMimi has been practicing criminal defense for 28 years in north Texas and knows exactly what you should look for in a top Tarrant County DWI lawyer. Whether you are looking for an Arlington top DWI lawyer, Ft. Worth, Dallas or its many north Texas suburbs, the Coffey Firm is well known for honest, skilled representation. For starters, these are serious warnings: DON’T TRUST THE REVIEWS. Most people with a DWI do not want to be known as having one. Don’t trust the reviews. Most ...
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Will I Go To Jail On A First Time DWI?
03 NovemberA question we hear often is whether jail time on a first DWI is mandatory. The short answer is ‘not really’. The longer answer, though, is that any conviction is technically a jail sentence. The way DWI probation works is that the court sentences you to jail time, but probates that sentence and places you on DWI probation. However, for those wishing to avoid probation on a first time DWI conviction, the law requires a minimum of 3 days. Many courts require three full days (72 hours) and will...
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Deadly Weapon and Probation Eligibility
31 OctoberDid you know that a deadly weapon finding may have an impact on your eligibility for probation? Texas law limits a judge or jury’s authority to order or grant probation on certain offenses. These are typically what DWI lawyers refer to as “3g” offenses. This list includes, but is not limited to: Murder, Sexual Assault, Injury to a Child, and Compelling Prostitution. More importantly, though, the law limits a Judge’s ability to grant probation when the offense involves a d...
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DWI and Global Entry
03 OctoberDid you know that a DWI might affect your eligibility to obtain Global Entry through Customs and Border Protection? 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 c...
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Can I Get Off of DWI Probation Early?
24 AugustGetting off of DWI Probation early is a very common question. DWI Probation can feel very different from other types of probation with all of the additional conditions. On top of that, the cost of having an interlock device builds up over time causing financial problems. Early release of DWI Probation is a complicated subject. One the one hand, the law specifically states that one cannot end probation early on an offense under sections 49.04 – 49.08 of the Texas Penal code (i.e., the DWI s...
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DWI Blood Test: Know the DA’s Strategy
07 AugustKnowing the DA’s strategy makes winning a DWI Blood Test case much easier. The primary strategy for a Tarrant County DWI Lawyer to recognize is how the DA tries to portray the DWI Blood Test. Many times, the DA will try to claim that the lab that tested the blood is a ‘certified’ lab and therefore you should trust the DWI Blood Test. However, this is NOT the law. Put in other words, the DA tries to equate ‘certification’ with accuracy and reliability. Just because a...
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DWI Blood Test: Sanitary Place Requirement
20 JulyUnderstanding statutes and case law is crucial to winning a DWI blood test case. One of the most important laws about DWI blood tests tends to go overlooked. That section says that a DWI blood test “must be taken in a sanitary place.” Though this statute is in the Transportation Code, neither it nor the Penal Code define sanitation. However, the Health and Safety Code defines ‘sanitary’ as “a condition of good order and cleanliness that precludes the possibility of ...
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How Accurate are Texas DWI Blood Tests?
08 JulyAn instrument, or machine, specifically – the gas chromatograph, requires validation before labs may use it for reporting forensic blood results. ANSI/ASB 036 sets forth standards that serve as a minimum for ensuring that a machine can produce accurate results. The most frequent issue I have run into with my cases when an expert analyzes the discovery is lack of proper validation on the machine. For example, it cannot properly account for matrix effects because the validation test use aq...
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DWI Blood Test: You Have a Right to Re-Test
07 JulyDid you know that you have the right to re-test a DWI Blood Test? Re-test of the Blood Taken By Officers There are two primary ways to get a re-test. The first, and most common, is to ask the court to re-test one of the DWI Blood Test vials that officers obtained the night of arrest. When officers get a DWI Blood Test, they obtain two vials. The popular saying is “one for them, one for us”. The ‘them’ is the State, and the ‘us’ is the DWI Defense Lawyer. The i...
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Lesser Included Charges
23 JuneWhat are Lesser Included Charges? Lesser Included Charges are charges that are related to your current charge, but of a typically lower range of punishment. An example might be manslaughter as a lesser included offense of murder. Manslaughter has a different required mental state (reckless) than murder (intentional or knowing), but a same end result (death). Another example would be assault by contact as a lesser included of assault involving bodily injury. Both charges are ‘assault’...