A sentencing judge must not decide to suspend a sentence before determining its length; the three-step process (whether imprisonment appropriate, length, then whether to suspend) must be followed sequentially. Where guilty pleas are entered after the trial date following charge negotiation, the fact of charge negotiation does not increase the discount beyond what the limited utilitarian value warrants. A finding that an offender had 'no control' by reason of mental illness is erroneous where the psychiatric evidence supports only 'reduced capacity', and the offender's guilty pleas acknowledge voluntary conduct.
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