Criminal record use in court

[excessiveadhd]

I have to attend court to face an excessive speeding charge. Documentation arrived in the mailbox approximately 2 weeks ago.
Is it standard procedure to detail convictions dating back to 92 from Children's Court and a conviction in 2000 that was not traffic-related at all?
A 2002 traffic-related conviction I do understand.
This is information I really don't want to be shared in a public courthouse. I wasn't expecting it and certainly not to just be left in the mailbox.

I have had 2 police checks in the last 12mths at my workplace which obviously didn't show anything otherwise I wouldn't have my job. I also had a check 8 years ago which came back all good.
How long does your history stay there?
Obviously for them forever,

Can I request for the case to be heard at a different location?
The informant has also detailed my response to his question as something completely different from what was said not that anyone could prove it but why would he do that? I was breathalyzed and drug tested and I gave him a letter from my specialist that said I would return a positive drug screen due to my medication and he even called my specialist to check. Is a more in-depth statement provided on the day that includes all the bits they left out or don't they matter. If they don't matter then surely my history from almost 30 and exactly 20years ago shouldn't matter either.
I look forward to your response

[Hardy]

You're worrying about nothing.
The Childrens' Court record can not be alleged against you if it is over 10 years old.
Your past findings of guilt is shared with the Magistrate. It might be mentioned in court. If you don't want that to happen then plead not guilty and get an acquittal. Then the prior history record is not shared with anyone. Court outcomes are a matter of public record - each time a court has found you guilty it did so in a court open to the public. Why do you say it was "left in the mailbox"? Don't you mean put in the post?

[excessiveadhd]

It was just a bit of a shock to the system being 28 years ago and coming back to haunt me.
The envelope had no postal markings on it at all, seemed like it had just been put there not actually come through the post. I thought that was strange as the police officer is from Notting Hill and i am near Bendigo. I guess they are everywhere these days.

[Hardy]

Sounds like it is a 12 month minimum suspension with an impound?

[excessiveadhd]

I was coming home after work in a rush to see my kids (who I have 3 nights a week) and my grumpy ex was pissed off & screaming over the phone cause I was running late and he had things to do. They said I was doing 117 which would be ok if it wasn't for the high risk lower limit 80 zone I had entered. I think its still the Calder highway until you exit the 80k stretch and then it becomes Calder Freeway and limit is 110, I wasnt quite there yet.
6 mths $660 fine - The licence loss is a huge inconvenience but the town i live in is a shithole so I will just relocate rent will be cheaper and ive spent nearly 3000 on petrol in 11mths so i might even come out on top. Its the record i was really concerned about, i was a bit of a shit when i was 15, Can they pull family court records like when your made a ward of the state?

[Hardy]

I don’t get it.
You are worried about your record being produced in court, but also worried about the present offence going on your record, yet you seem to have pleaded guilty which is how both those things come into play.
Obviously you didn’t get an on the spot fine, else you wouldn’t be worried about going to court. Did they charge you with drug driving? A letter from you doctor is not a defence. It is a confession.

[excessiveadhd]

Yes, I got an on the spot fine and I disputed it quite simply as it was coming closer to Christmas I had holidays organised, I didn't want to have to cancel on my kids or lose quite a bit of money on deposits I had already paid.
Just trying to weigh up the odds of spending quite a significant amount of money on a maybe. Yes, the test was positive but it's my medication I have scripts for it. I'm sorry for the confusion.
I don't want to waste your time if you could just answer me 1 question and I will leave it alone. Can I request to have the case heard at a different location?

Thank you very much for responding thus far I do appreciate it.

[Hardy]

You can ask the court to move the venue and they will if you are pleading guilty, or if the case has been commenced at the incorrect venue.

[Gravy]

A letter from you doctor is not a defence. It is a confession.

Is it not a prima facie (if not complete) defence under s49(3B), given it is "advice" in accordance with s49(3C)? Or is it that the former subsection creates a reverse onus requiring the defence to be proven on dispositive evidence?

Also, am I using 'dispositive' in the correct context?

[Hardy]

It seems this driver produced a positive result to an oral fluid test.
S.49(3B) and 49(3C) applies to driving whilst impaired charges laid under s.49(ba), not to oral fluid test offences. Oral fluid tests are not done for s.49(ba) offences.
For a 49(1)(bb) or (h) offence, all that matters is whether the sample went positive, not why it went positive.

[Gravy]

Ah, I understand. Strewth.

That seems like a massive oversight in the construction of the legislation. A drug that is entirely safe to use whilst driving, provided it is therapeutically indicated and administered/prescribed appropriately, is caught up in enforcing off-label or illicit use.

There are lots of prescribed drugs on which one should not drive whilst taking, but methylamphetamine for the treatment of ADHD is not one of them. A slightly different wording in s49(3B) could surely achieve that.

Would the letter from the treating physician help to achieve a s76 dismissal? I.e. plead guilty then submit the letter in mitigation?

excessiveadhd - I sympathise with you.

[excessiveadhd]

No need for sympathy the drug test isnt even mentioned in the brief. I think after they rang my specialist they would have realised his 32yrs as Principal medical advisor for Victoria Police, coupled with 20yrs as a Forensic Physician providing expert opinion for collision investigators, lawyers, insurers and courts and the fact he has been a witness in over 4000 court cases might have made them look a little silly. They have stuck with what they know i guess.
Thank you for the info regarding the court location.

[Gravy]

That's at least some good news for you, though it seems that you just got lucky; as Sean wrote above, the letter from your doctor (no matter the position he holds) is not a defence.

Regardless of the positive (no pun intended) outcome for your situation, I still think that the legislation is inexcusably deficient and unnecessarily discriminatory.