A misstatement of the maximum penalty by a sentencing judge will almost invariably constitute House v R error vitiating the sentencing discretion, given the significance of the maximum penalty to the sentencing process. The utilitarian value of a guilty plea discount may be eroded where the offender disputes facts at the sentencing hearing and does not achieve complete success, even where the Crown fails to prove its disputed facts. For cannabis cultivation by enhanced indoor means involving a relatively small number of plants above the commercial quantity where the offender is not the principal, a starting point of seven years and six months imprisonment is manifestly excessive.
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