I found a "better" way:
In CoffeeScript:
try data = JSON.parse(jqxhr.responseText)
data ||= { message: 'Server error, please retry' }
In Javascript:
var data;
try {
data = JSON.parse(jqxhr.responseText);
} catch (_error) {}
data || (data = {
message: 'Server error, please retry'
});