Author Archives: Mimi Coffey
Mimi Coffey is a trial attorney with 17 years experience. She is the founder of The Coffey Firm, serving Dallas, Tarrant and Collin counties. She is board-certified in DWI by the National College of DUI Defense (NCDD) and is a Regent of the NCDD.
She has also appeared numerous times as a legal commentator for CNN, National Fox News, as well as local Dallas/Fort Worth stations on DWI-related stories. She is also a frequent speaker at both national and statewide seminars.
She is a prolific trial attorney with a proven trial record. She has tried over 300 cases, with 80% of them being jury trials in her 18-year career. Her success includes everything from .21 breath tests, blood tests to 3 car accident cases just to name a few. Mimi’s cases have also made good case law for the State of Texas. For example, in Tarvin v. State, it was found that weaving within your own lane was not a traffic violation. In Lajoie v. State, the courts determined that the defendant’s request to have his attorney must be suppressed as opposed to used as evidence of guilt.
She is the author of Texas DWI Defense: The Law and Practice. She is also the author of three nationally-published articles and four statewide articles.
Mimi has twice attended Indiana University’s Borkenstein Course for state toxicologists both on alcohol and drugs. She has also completed the NHTSA SFST Course, SFST Instructor Course and the 12-Step DRE Mini-Course Program. She is also one of the first attorneys in the United States to attend the Axion Labs Gas Chromatography Training. Her minor in college was Geology lending her a comprehensive and disciplined scientific mind when it comes to scientific and mathematical issues such as blood and breath testing.
Mimi has won the President’s Heart of a Champion Award presented by the Texas Criminal Defense Lawyers Association (TCDLA) numerous times.
Mimi also led the effort to get the State Bar of Texas’ Board of Legal Specialization to recognize the NCDD’s DWI Certification.
Mimi has been active in 4 legislative sessions in fighting against bad DWI laws. Her efforts prevented the breath/blood test refusal as being a separate crime. She has advocated for true deferred adjudication for DWI.
Mimi also sued a Dalworthington Gardens police officer for illegally drawing blood. Since her lawsuit, the 2nd Court of Appeals ruled against police officers drawing blood. (The Court of Criminal Appeals overturned this).
Mimi also sued the Texas Department of Public Safety for its double jeopardy surcharge program. Since the initiation of her suit, Texas DPS has instituted amnesty programs based on one’s earning potential.
Mimi Coffey
September 27, 2013
Texas DUI News, U.S. DUI News
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Legislatures, representatives of the people, write the laws NOT prosecutors. Each legal law is a result of a complex process involving everything from public hearings, citizen and lobbyist input to sworn testimony. Penal code statutes have punishment ranges for a reason. Not everyone deserves to be treated the same when it comes to the same offense. Prosecutors are circumventing the laws by substituting their own punishment ranges in the form of “office policies” rather than considering the full range of ... Read More »
Mimi Coffey
September 27, 2013
Texas DUI News, U.S. DUI News
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The “science” in field sobriety tests is laughable. Here is my article that has been published nationally: Judge Daryl Coffey of County Criminal Court number 8, in Tarrant County, Texas once remarked to me that all a prosecutor has to do to win a DWI case is just make sure that the three letters “DWI” are mentioned at least 15 times in a trial.1 It is this type of environment that has allowed history to repeat itself. All we have ... Read More »
Mimi Coffey
September 16, 2013
Texas DUI News, U.S. DUI News
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Read the Article here! The Science of Fear & field sobriety tests: Fear is not just mental. It is physical. It is involuntary. It causes one to lose normal mental and physical faculties. The field sobriety tests were developed in a vacuum. The greatest travesty NHTSA perpetuates on our citizenry is the application of these nonscientific tests without any proper scientific consideration to fear. Here is the article I wrote, very relevant for anyone arrested for DWI/DUI. (link above, on ... Read More »
Mimi Coffey
August 9, 2013
Texas DUI News, U.S. DUI News
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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 ... Read More »
Mimi Coffey
August 1, 2013
Texas DUI News, U.S. DUI News
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If you get arrested for DWI please do yourself a favor: Mimi Coffey Words to Those Accused of DWI. 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. Pick out ten pictures that define your life (kids, being a little league coach, ... Read More »
Mimi Coffey
May 22, 2013
Texas DUI News, U.S. DUI News
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Blood Testing- Fermentation On the topic of blood testing: Blood Test practice tip: “1-propanol, acetaldehyde, acetone, 2-propanol, isobutanol… have been considered as biochemical markers.. to be flagged as suspicious for microbial contamination.” Forensic Science Intl 174(2008) 133-151 Have seen many client chromatograms with these compounds…… Blood testing needs to be regulated. In Texas there are NO regulations for blood testing. Most labs still don’t even report a margin of uncertainty. There should be a law that the lab videotape the entire blood ... Read More »
Mimi Coffey
March 26, 2013
Texas DUI News, U.S. DUI News
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HGN: Robustness Study; DWI related Facts revealed by Dr. Lance Platt who did a PhD on HGN, former cop & State of Texas trainer of cops with NHTSA inside sources: 1. The NHTSA HGN Robustness study is comprised of only 9 subjects tested. 2. It involves NO baseline. You can’t do a study without a negative control baseline. 3. It took 5 years to publish the “results” because it kept being sent back due to data that did not fit ... Read More »
Mimi Coffey
March 13, 2013
Texas DUI News, U.S. DUI News
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DWI/DUI Marijuana This news article demonstrates the fervor of law enforcement to get a DWI/DUI even when there is no evidence. A person may show from a toxicology screen that they may have THC in their system with no evidence of impairment at the time of driving (some of these tests may show positive if the person smoked in the last 6 weeks). Scary stuff. http://m.usatoday.com/article/news/1979905 Read More »
