Quote:
Originally Posted by Vulcan
As far as I know, unless you can get a lowering of the charge there is no longer any benefit to pleading guilty as far as sentencing goes. So defendants are going to court and pleading not guilty as a guilty plea gets them nothing.
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An early guilty plea is a factor the judge will consider in sentencing.
There is also the prospect that in return for a guilty plea the Crown will join you in sentencing submissions. In other words, the Crown might agree to recommend with defence counsel a sentence within a certain range in return for the defendant pleading guilty and avoiding a trial. The judge is not bound by any joint sentencing submission but a reasonable sentence proposed by both counsel is something that the judge will have difficulty ignoring.