Recent Fort Worth Star Telegram Article (Interlock Monopoly) & More
Recent Fort Worth Star Telegram Article (Interlock Monopoly)
& More
First and foremost I must stress that I was born and raised
in Tarrant County. I am proud of my
Cowtown roots. After graduating law school at Texas Tech I came back to Fort
Worth to serve my people. I have always been proud of the friendliness,
hardiness, and ambition that represents the Fort Worth mentality. In seventeen
years I have expanded my practice into Dallas and Collin Counties. I literally
live in both Tarrant and Dallas counties (spending half the week in each). This
allows me to be a more versatile, open minded lawyer adapting and molding to
the keen differences that Dallas and Collin Counties offer. This being said, I believe it puts me in a
unique position to stress tyranny and bad practices when I see it. I can’t stand injustice but when it morphs
into institutional practices to the detriment of its people it is up to the
good hearted to speak out (whether lawyer, citizen or judge).
Most people think that going to jail can never happen to
them so they don’t concern themselves with issues that affect everyone in the
justice system until they find themselves in it and are helpless. I speak as a lawyer and citizen, not just
from the defense lawyer side because if I was a prosecutor I would care just as
much that these things be fair, especially
if I was a judge.
Here are just a few bullet points that merit attention.
1.
Yesterday’s Star Telegram reported the Tarrant
County Commissioners Court has determined to give a monopoly y to just ONE
interlock provider and it happens to be the company of a well-connected judge’s
wife (whom I adore them both and have only good things to say about the interlock company). Now from a practical side, what
does this mean? If the interlock company wants to start charging $500 for the
device versus the industry standard of $75, who is going to stop them? No other
county in Texas has this illegal and antitrade operation going on. All
providers are required to satisfy probation standards to be approved, but limit
the entire community to one? Let the market earn their share. What happens
if this one provider pisses a judge off? Guess what folks, nothing good can
come of this for any side involved.
2.
The Tarrant County DA does not allow defense
attorneys to give copies of the police report or even the DWI videos to their
clients. There is no legal authority by statute for this DA office policy. Dallas and Collin counties do not do this. The Constitution guarantees a defendant the
right to confront their accuser. The Founders did not have videos then but I am
sure they would require such if they did. It was a given then and still is
today in most counties that a defendant is entitled to a copy of the
information against them. Now from a practical
side, what does this mean? The DA’s witnesses get to own it (cops), take it
home and study and prepare for hours, but defendants are limited to going over
the particulars of the reports and videos in their lawyer’s office. If the
DA in certain cases was concerned about victim’s addresses this could just be
blacked out (as Dallas does). So message
to the Tarrant County DA: when we win it makes us 10x the lawyer you are. I guess the defense bar in Tarrant County is
just so good that the DAs have to literally hogtie our clients’ hands in preparation
for their own defense.
3.
You know the old phrase “You can beat the rap
but you can’t beat the ride?” That’s
what happens once the handcuffs go on, it’s not supposed to happen with the
justice system. The justice system should be a fair administration of justice.
We live in a modern age of fax machines, emails and smartphones. Even traffic
ticket courts don’t require a defendant to physically appear for each and every
court date if they have a lawyer. In a DWI, no court date even matters until after
the ALR hearing and the DA has turned over the police report and video
(sometimes these videos take several court dates to track down). Yet people are
taking off hard earned vacation days and missing work for superfluous kindergarten
roll calls. Example: the judge calls out
“Mr. Smith”? Mr. Smith sits there like a lump on a log and his lawyer says “Present
with Counsel”, then Mr. Smith leaves (often times after hours) only to come
back and do it multiple more times before anything of any consequence occurs. Seriously?
It takes three lawyers in my Fort Worth office to take care of this versus one
in Dallas (where the clients only appear on important dates). Now from a practical side what does this mean? John Q. Smith of the public may wait for four
hours at the dentist office because his dentist had an appearance that could
have been avoided. One of my clients
missed fifteen days of work over two years before he got a Not Guilty. He was
lucky to keep his job, unlike many.
People resist change but change is good and sometimes
necessary. In Tarrant County for moral reasons
and respect for its citizens, the time for change is now.
posted by Mimi Coffey @ 9:29 AM
4 Comments:
Great post. What can be done? The general public doesn't know enough to make an impact by writing their representatives.
What about a lawsuit? If so, why hasn't that been initiated (besides money)? Are there no higher institutions that hold lower courts accountable? Surely each county isn't sovereign.
Sadly, it seems as if the issue loses steam after Joe Public walks out of the courtroom. It's hard enough to maintain the costs of good representation, impound fees, court fees, surcharges, etc.
I understand what you're saying, and I completely agree. I admire your passion.
It appears as though the DA is so insecure in their abilities that they have to pigeon hole those who don't know, or can't manipulate the law, all in the name of "justice".
Great post. What can be done? The general public doesn't know enough to make an impact by writing their representatives.
What about a lawsuit? If so, why hasn't that been initiated (besides money)? Are there no higher institutions that hold lower courts accountable? Surely each county isn't sovereign.
Sadly, it seems as if the issue loses steam after Joe Public walks out of the courtroom. It's hard enough to maintain the costs of good representation, impound fees, court fees, surcharges, etc.
I understand what you're saying, and I completely agree. I admire your passion.
It appears as though the DA is so insecure in their abilities that they have to pigeon hole those who don't know, or can't manipulate the law, all in the name of "justice".
A very informative post indeed with a lot of useful info. I hope I’ll find other posts like this in the future. Thanks! Dallas Attorneys
Fantastic read! I’ve saved your site….., Dallas Ticket Attorney
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