Dallas lawyer Paul Coggins co-authored an article for The Texas Lawbook on the decision by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Texas to update its standard proffer agreements to reflect nationwide practices. Coggins and Nguyen also reference how the government is enforcing these agreements based on their recent experience in the Forest Park Medical Center trial.
The authors note, “From a practical standpoint, these newly revised agreements are also likely to have a chilling effect on cooperation with the government because of the Catch-22 they force defendants into: proffer and effectively waive their right to a substantive defense in hopes that the government will not pursue a case against them, or refuse to speak to the government at all and likewise hope that the government will not pursue a case against them.”
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