A sentencing judge may find that the utilitarian value of a guilty plea is eroded 'to a degree' where the offender ran a contested committal before pleading guilty and unsuccessfully contested a number of overt acts on the plea, provided the judge still attributes substantial weight to the plea as a mitigating factor. The COVID-19 suspension of jury trials heightens the objective utilitarian value of a guilty plea. A summary characterisation of the totality of an offender's conduct across all charges does not constitute sentencing on a factual basis inconsistent with a particular charge.
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