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Former Prosecutor

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Former State Prosecutor and Criminal Trial Attorney

Former State Prosecutor

Former Atlantic County Prosecutor

Certified Criminal Trial Attorney

Experienced for over 35 years

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Atlantic City Drug DWI Lawyer Successfully Defends Clients against Drunk & Drugged Driving Charges


If you or someone you know has been charged with driving under the influence of narcotics in New Jersey, you should be aware of the significant penalties you may be facing. Although a DWI drug charge is technically a traffic offense, the stakes are still incredibly high. If you are convicted of any kind of DWI violation in New Jersey – whether it involves drugs or alcohol – you could be looking at jail time, mandatory loss of your driver’s license, court fines, and insurance surcharges.

John W. Tumelty is a former deputy attorney general with the New Jersey Division of Criminal Justice and a former assistant prosecutor with the Atlantic County Prosecutor’s Office. As founding partner of the Law Offices of John W. Tumelty, he is committed to helping clients beat their criminal and DWI charges. In fact, his practice focuses exclusively on criminal and DUI defense work. He defends clients charged with driving under the influence of drugs throughout South Jersey, including Atlantic County and Cape May County.

What Are the Possible Punishments for a DWI Drug Violation in New Jersey?

The New Jersey DWI law addresses more than just alcohol intoxication. A person can be charged with a DWI if they are found to be driving under the influence of a narcotic, hallucinogen, or other illegal substance. In fact, you can be charged with a DWI even if the drugs in your system were legally prescribed.

Since the law does not explicitly define what constitutes being “under the influence,” you may face severe DWI penalties for a relatively small amount of drug tracings in your blood. If you are convicted of a DWI drug charge in New Jersey, your driver’s license will definitely be suspended for at least three months. Losing your license can be a real burden because New Jersey does not allow any type of special driving permit if you are found guilty of a DWI offense. Beyond that, if you already have a drunk driving conviction on your record, the penalties can be even more significant, including heavy fines and possible jail time.

Former NJ Prosecutor with Advanced Defense Strategies for Beating Your DWI Drug Charges

Mr. Tumelty has extensive experience and a track record of success when it comes to helping clients beat their DWI drug charges. Let a former State and County prosecutor assist you with your DWI case.

The police can compel you to take a field sobriety test if you are stopped for a DUI. The standardized field sobriety tests – such as the walk-and-turn test, the one-legged stand test, and the pen test – are extremely unreliable. Mr. Tumelty knows how to highlight the presence of certain physical conditions or weather elements that might have influenced the results of your roadside field exercise.

Under certain circumstances, the police can administer blood or urine tests. However, the test itself is not sufficient to prove a drug DUI charge in New Jersey. As a result, prosecutors must also produce expert testimony from a drug recognition expert (DRE) in order to validate the results of a blood or urine test. If a DRE was unavailable at the time of your testing, the test results may be inadmissible in court. For this reason, lack of expert witness testimony is often fatal to the prosecution’s case in a drug-related DUI.

DUI Attorney Represents Clients Charged with Driving under the Influence of Drugs in Cape May and Atlantic Counties

The charges you face are severe, but your life is not over. Put a former prosecutor on your side. Right now, you need a tough, experienced DWI defense lawyer who understands the New Jersey criminal justice system inside and out.

Contact the Law Offices of John W. Tumelty to speak with an experienced DWI defense attorney who represents clients in Cape May and Atlantic counties. Mr. Tumelty is available 24/7 to answer all of your questions throughout the legal process while endeavoring to save your driver’s license. You can call him day or night, or you can simply fill out the online contact form to schedule a face-to-face meeting at his Marmora or Somers Point office, where he will look over the details of your case and explain the legal process to you in clear and plain terms.

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