A sentencing judge who fails to expressly identify and apply an Ellis discount or to explicitly address totality in reasons for sentence commits an error of reasoning, but the sentence will not be disturbed on appeal if the aggregate sentence is within the appropriate range and no lesser sentence is warranted in law under s 6(3) of the Criminal Appeal Act. The strength of the Crown case is a relevant factor limiting the discount for a guilty plea, and a twenty-five percent discount may encompass both utilitarian value and remorse where the plea acknowledges the inevitable.
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