Dee Giannopoulos
This is a real case study by one of our lawyers. The person who is in charge of this area in the firm is Dee Giannopoulos. Dee is a Director and LIV Accredited Criminal Law Specialist at Doogue + George, recognised by Doyle's Guide as a Leading Criminal Defence Lawyer in Victoria (2026). She has 13 years of experience in serious indictable matters including sexual offences, pre-charge investigations, and complex County Court proceedings.
View full profile →This is a case study on a sentence of diversion for drug possession.
What is alleged to have occured?
Our client was charged with Possess Drug of Dependence. He was 21 years old and had an unrelated prior for driving suspended. Given his young age, he was very concerned that a criminal record in relation to drugs would prevent him from future overseas travel.
What happened at court?
Dee Giannopoulos acted on the client’s behalf at the Melbourne Magistrates’ Court. The charges were:
The charging officer was persuaded to recommend our client for diversion. But when the matter initially proceeded before the court, we were faced with a magistrate who was adverse to diversion as our client already had a criminal record.
The matter was booked in for a diversion hearing. The diversion paperwork was prepared with guidance from our solicitor and this was provided to the court along with written submissions.
The written submissions addressed the fact that the law does not state that diversion must only be for a first offence. It was also submitted that the drug possession was an offending dissimilar to the driving charge for which our client had previously been to court. We further explained that there are countries such as America which will not allow our client entry if there is a criminal history relating to any sort of drug charge, whereas the driving matter would not cause him that same issue.
What was the result?
The magistrate understood the position put and granted the diversion for drug possession and the rest of the charges. Our client complied with the conditions of the diversion and has no disclosable court record for this matter. This is very important considering he is 21 years of age and has his whole life ahead of him.
DISCLAIMER: This is a real case study of an actual case from our files. Details pertaining to the client have been changed to protect their privacy. The sentence imposed and the charge have not been altered. These case studies are published to demonstrate real outcomes and give an indication of possible tariffs in Court. We do not guarantee a similar case on these charges will get the same result. Please note that we post results at our discretion, therefore while many case studies are average results, others are notable for their exceptional outcomes. PUBLISHED 29/05/2018
