Supply 16 tablets of ecstasy – charge reduced to “possession” and no conviction recorded

We represented a client from Melbourne who was caught with 16 ecstasy tablets and approximately a gram of a lesser known drug.

The client was initially charged with supply prohibited drug and the matter was to be dealt with in the District Court when proceeding to sentence, where he would have faced the real proposition of some form of imprisonment.

Although the client lived interstate, we were able to properly communicate with the client and the matter was not at all compromised.

Although the client admitted to police that the drugs were mainly for his friends, we were able to rely on a complex, discrete factual scenario and relevant case law to make representations to the prosecution to reduce the supply charge to possession.

The senior prosecutor dealing with the matte did not accept my legal submissions. I wrote further, pressing that we were right in law threatened that we would go to trial in the District Court.

The prosecutor obtained advice from a Crown barrister who agreed with my submissions and advised him that he should withdraw the supply charge.

The client still faced a serious charge of possession, being 16 ecstasy tablets. Although the client could not afford a criminal conviction as he worked in a government position, he was aware that a much more serious outcome was the most likely.

However, we made some creative submissions before the Magistrate and, after careful consideration, the Magistrate decided to dismiss the matter pursuant to section 10 of the Crimes (Sentencing Procedure) Act, without recording a criminal conviction.

A dream result for the client! Clearly, though, an exceptional case.