The De La Rosa principles regarding the effect of mental illness or impairment on sentencing are not absolute and do not create a presumption that mental impairment reduces moral culpability or renders the offender an inappropriate vehicle for general deterrence. A sentencing judge is entitled to find no causal connection between an acquired brain injury and offending where the evidence supports only a link between the injury and drug/alcohol consumption. A starting point of 12 years (before a 25% guilty plea discount) for a series of five sexual intercourse without consent offences of the most invasive kind is within range.
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