A sentencing judge's associate making sequential (rather than simultaneous) enquiries of the parties about formal matters such as dates in a presentment does not, without more, give rise to a reasonable apprehension of bias. Imprudent procedure in the manner of communication falls well short of suggesting bias. The weight to be given to an offender's own history of childhood sexual abuse as a mitigating factor depends on expert evidence establishing an objective nexus between the abuse and the offending, not merely the offender's perception of such a nexus.
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