#150 Maroochydore Drug Driving

Join Wiseman Lawyers Traffic Lawyer Andrew Wiseman at Maroochydore Magistrates Court as he represents a client charged with Drug Driving. Watch Andrew explain what happened in the courtroom, along with the outcome which he achieved and how he achieved it.

All right, today I'm at Maroochydore Magistrates Court. Client was charged with repeat drug driving. There's two types of drug driving. The more serious is what's called drive under the influence of a drug, meaning you're high on drugs. The lesser charge is what's called drive whilst relevant drug present, meaning you've consumed it at some point, the effects have worn off, you're no longer under the influence or high, but there's still traces of it in your system and that is illegal. You're expected to have no trace whatsoever of illicit substances in your system, irrespective of whether or not the effects have worn off.

This was repeat drug driving. This was his third charge of driving whilst a relevant drug was present. In addition to that, he had a previous drink driving with a reading of 0.105. One of those previous relevant drug presence were within the last five years and the drink driving and the third drug driving offence were outside of it. So it was his fourth. And I should say, I should clarify too, the legislation speaks of drink driving, it's the same section of the relevant legislation, whether it's drug driving or drink driving, so even though it was his third drug driving and he's got one previous drink driving, what it actually means is it's his fourth offence of this type. So it's his fourth drink or drug driving offence.

As I said, though, two of those previous, meaning one of the drug driving and the drink driving were outside of the last five years, but he did have one previous relevant drug present within the last five years. Worst case scenario, when it's your second relevant drug present in five years is an 18 month licence disqualification, mandatory minimum is three months. If it was his first offence with no previous, it'd be a worst case of nine months, mandatory minimum one. But again, because he's got that previous in the last five years, maximum 18, mandatory minimum's three.

And I guess moving forward on that, because he's got previous and because he's lost his licence previously in the last five years, he's not eligible to apply for a drug driving work licence. A drug driving work licence, if it's successful, allows you to drive for work purposes during the disqualification period. But to be eligible to apply for a drug driving work licence among other things, you can't have lost your licence for any reason in the last five years, so that wasn't an option today. So my job was one of getting the disqualification down as low as possible. And again, worst case was 18 months, absolute best case outcome was three months. It's a mandatory minimum of three months, meaning mandatory as per the dictionary definition and minimum as per the dictionary definition. It's not negotiable, minimum's three months.

As far as preparing goes, I got my client to complete, or I asked him to complete a reformatory course, which can be done either in person or online. It's based out of the Brisbane and Gold Coast, but for regional persons, it can be done online. But if you're on the Sunshine Coast, you're free to drive down there to do it in person if you like. I've got him to get character references based on a template we provide all of our clients, guiding them through what the magistrate needs to know. They need to know that the references written with the court matter in mind, there's no point having, "To whom it may concern, he's a great bloke." And there's no mention of the fact that it's being used for court or that they've got any knowledge of the repeat drug driving offence. So we got those references.

I prepared my submissions prior today, drove up this morning, we grabbed a conference room, ran through the procedure, what he can expect me to say, what he can expect the prosecutor and the magistrate to say. I spoke on my feet for a reasonable amount of time, but I tend to just get to the point and magistrates respond well to it. The short version is I was successful in getting the mandatory minimum of three months and a modest fine. So three months disqualification, he'll just have to buckle down over that three month period and get through it. Fortunately, his employer can accommodate it. He'll just get through it and obviously he'll be doing yard work and just being a third wheel, I suppose, during that period.

At the end of the three months, he goes back, gets his licence back. He will be on zero blood alcohol for 12 months when he gets it, but anyone who goes to court and loses their licence, irrespective of why they've lost it, goes on a zero blood alcohol reading for 12 months. So if you go to court for unlicensed driving, it's not alcohol or drug related, but when you get your licence back, it's zero blood alcohol for 12 months. In any event, the short version is client's very happy, minimum three months, which again, considering it's repeat drug driving, it's his third drug driving offence and he's got a previous DUI, so it's his fourth of this type. He's very happy.

I'm Andrew Wiseman at Maroochydore Magistrates Court. Thanks for watching.