31 October

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Deadly Weapon and Probation Eligibility

Name: The Coffey Firm
Price range: $$$

Did 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 deadly weapon. If a deadly weapon was used or exhibited in the commission of a felony and the defendant is the one...

03 October

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DWI and Global Entry

Posted by Mimi Coffey

in Helpful Legal Information

Did 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 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,...

24 August

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Can I Get Off of DWI Probation Early?

Posted by Mimi Coffey

in Helpful Legal Information

Getting 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 sections) in Texas Code of Criminal Procedure 42A.701(g). On a deferred adjudication probation, however, the...

07 August

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DWI Blood Test: Know the DA’s Strategy

Posted by Mimi Coffey

in Helpful Legal Information

Knowing 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 lab has 'certification' does NOT mean that their results are inherently accurate or reliable....

20 July

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DWI Blood Test: Sanitary Place Requirement

Posted by Mimi Coffey

in Helpful Legal Information

Understanding 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 disease transmission." This may seem like common sense, but many prosecutors tend to overlook this requirement. Obvious violations include bugs...

08 July

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How Accurate are Texas DWI Blood Tests?

Posted by Mimi Coffey

in Helpful Legal Information

An 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 aqueous solutions versus blood. This is like comparing apples to oranges. ANSI/ASB 054 sets forth minimum standards for quality control. It specifically...

07 July

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DWI Blood Test: You Have a Right to Re-Test

Posted by Mimi Coffey

in Helpful Legal Information

[caption id="attachment_7897" align="alignleft" width="300"] Gas Chromatograph- the type of machine used for DWI blood tests[/caption] Did 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...

23 June

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Lesser Included Charges

Posted by Mimi Coffey

in Helpful Legal Information

What 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' charges and both involve some form of contact. But, they have different ranges of punishment (Class C for 'contact' and class A for 'injury' (generally))...

02 May

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Repeat and Habitual Offenders

Posted by Mimi Coffey

in Helpful Legal Information

Repeat and Habitual Offenders face greater punishment, including the possibility of 25 to 99 years of prison! Repeat and Habitual Offenders are enhancement paragraphs that the State may add to an indictment like a deadly weapon enhancement. Both enhancements deal with those who have one or more felony convictions on their records. A Repeat offender is, simply, a person who has one prior felony conviction. Conversely to how "attempt" lowers a charge by one degree, a "Repeat" raises punishment by a degree (in general). This means the following: A 3rd Degree Felony conviction becomes punishable as a 2nd Degree Felony A...

27 April

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Interlock and DWI Convictions

Posted by Mimi Coffey

in Helpful Legal Information

When it comes to Interlock and DWI Convictions, please be warned that the law gives judges a large amount of discretion for first time DWIs. For misdemeanor (DWI#2) or felony repetition DWIs (3rd or more), the law requires an interlock as a condition of probation. The same is true for DWI with BAC double the limit (.15 or more) or for DWIs by minors. Some courts may allow for alternatives to the interlock (for example, a portable unit or SCRAM (ankle) monitor). However, that does not change the requirement for some form of monitoring. Interlock and First Time DWI For pure first...