A sentencing judge must fix the term of imprisonment before considering whether it should be served by way of periodic detention or other alternative to full-time custody; failure to follow this two-stage procedure may be productive of error, particularly where the length of the sentence imposed suggests the judge determined the mode of service before fixing the term. A discount of fifty percent is not necessarily called for in every case involving an early guilty plea and cooperation with authorities; the complex of interrelated subjective considerations may make it difficult to separate out a discrete discount for assistance from other favourable features.
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