The Late Guilty Plea

The timing of a guilty plea affects its impact in mitigation.
A plea entered at the last minute before the trial is not deserving of as much consideration as one that was entered promptly.

R. v. O. (C.), 2008 ONCA 518, 91 O.R. (3d) 528, at paras. 16‑17; R. v. Wright, 2013 ABCA 428, 566 A.R. 192, at para. 12.

The trial judge was right to attach less weight to the remorse expressed by the accused and to his guilty plea because of the lateness of that plea.

R. v. Lacasse, 2015 SCC 64, [2015] 3 S.C.R. 1089 at para 81.

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