Travis J. Tormey recently helped a client who was stopped by Clifton NJ police for allegedly driving while under the influence of drugs (DUI). The client was subject to both DWI penalties and criminal penalties for allegedly being under the influence of drugs while she drove her vehicle in Clifton, New Jersey. A conviction on the most serious DUI charges could have resulted in suspension of her driver’s license for a period of one year and a term of incarceration of six months in Passaic County Jail. Beyond that, the client faced the possibility of having a criminal conviction attached to her permanent record.

A Clifton NJ patrol officer stopped the client’s car after reportedly seeing the client commit an illegal U-turn. The Clifton officer believed that the client might have been drunk, so he administered field sobriety tests at the scene. When the client allegedly failed the field sobriety tests, the officer placed her under arrest and charged her with a DUI. Sometime later, Clifton police officers administered a breath test, with the client registering .00 percent BAC on the Alcotest machine. Nonetheless, Clifton police also took a urine sample from the client. One thing that Clifton law enforcement failed to do was use a drug recognition expert (DRE) at any point after the arrest to examine the client and determine whether the client was drunk or high while driving.

The client’s lab results showed that there was cough syrup and allergy medication, but no marijuana or other illegal drugs, in her system. Since prosecutors could not rely on a DRE evaluation to support their claims against the client, Travis Tormey was able to successfully challenge the DUI charges and get prosecutors to dismiss all of the charges. This was a tremendous result for our client and a major victory for the Tormey Law Firm.