A judge will rarely give a sentence on the same day as the accused’s plea hearing. Normally, the judge doesn’t rush with sentencing, and adjourns the matter to take the time to carefully go through all the material provided. The judge determines an appropriate penalty only after thorough examination of the offence, the factors surrounding it and the plea material presented to them.
Sentencing happens on a specific date and time scheduled by the judge. You may immediately get notified of the date and time or you may be remanded in custody until a sentencing date is finalised. Typically, the accused gets remanded in custody after the plea hearing until the time of sentencing. Your defence lawyer will be notified by the court as soon as a date for the sentence hearing is fixed.
There are generally no further submissions to be made during the sentence hearing. However, there are times when a judge may need to clarify some issues that arose sometime after the plea hearing ended. If this is the case, the matter will be discussed to clarify the sentencing.
