The Verdins principles concerning the relevance of impaired mental functioning to sentencing are confined to cases of impairment of mental functioning and do not extend to personality disorders classified under Section II of DSM-V. However, personality disorders remain relevant to the sentencing synthesis as they may explain the offending and bear upon moral culpability. On Crown appeals, specific error grounds need not be accompanied by a ground of manifest inadequacy, but the error must raise a matter of principle for the governance and guidance of sentencing courts. The Crown is precluded from raising on appeal arguments not distinctly pursued at first instance.
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