A sentencing judge is not required to express an assessment of the degree of provocation in quantitative terms. The primary comparison for assessing manifest excess is with the statutory maximum, not with sentencing statistics or other cases. The fact that a confrontation was planned, even if the use of a weapon was not, is relevant to reducing the mitigating weight of provocation.
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3 of the 11 citing cases carry a classified treatment. How each court treated it is available to signed-in members.