Eight brutal years in an LA jail... or cushy rehab: D-Day for Australia's Next Top Model star Didier Cohen accused of 'vicious' attack on dad and stepmum - as top prosecutor tells us there will be NO mercy

The stakes could not have been higher when Didier Cohen walked into a Los Angeles courtroom last week: a trial that could mean prison for up to eight years if convicted, or a chance to avoid it through a rehab program.

For months, lawyers acting for the 2010s heart-throb and former Australia's Next Top Model judge have argued that he is a troubled man in need of treatment, not jail.

But Cohen's long-awaited trial never came. In a dramatic twist, the judge postponed a decision on his future on Friday, after he was sensationally accused of beating up his father and stepmother.

The court had been expected to decide whether the 41-year-old actor should stand trial on nine serious felony charges - which carry a potential sentence of up to eight years if he is convicted.

Alternatively, Judge Andrea Thompson could cut him a huge break and grant a motion that would allow him to enrol in a 'mental health diversion program', potentially allowing him to avoid jail if he stays clean and trouble‑free for a set number of years.

But Thompson delayed her ruling with a new hearing set for June 15, after Cohen's lawyer Charlie Unger told her that he needed more time to prepare his case supporting a diversion program.

At that hearing next month, the court will hear testimony from a psychologist and possibly other mental health experts.

Cohen - who showed up at court Friday in a black suit and tie and white shirt with his heavily tattooed head shaved and sporting two gold nose rings - will remain free on $300,000 bail and continue to wear an ankle monitoring bracelet.

He stands accused of attacking his 72-year-old father, David Cohen, with a bottle, assaulting his stepmother, Avesta Saaty, kidnapping both of them and threatening to kill them, plus several other alleged felonies.

Unger filed the motion pleading that his client is a troubled man who shouldn't be imprisoned and that supervised mental health treatment would be more appropriate for Cohen, who has already been living in a residential drug treatment program.

Los Angeles prosecutors are fighting Cohen's attempt to avoid a criminal trial and possible jail time.

'The people will be opposing the diversion program,' Deputy District Attorney Frederick Engell told the Daily Mail after Friday's brief court proceeding.

At an earlier hearing, Engell told the judge, 'There were serious injuries to victims in this case.'

He pointed out that Cohen's dad may have forgiven his son for the attack, saying, 'His father is pro-mental health diversion.'

But he added that Saaty, 52, may not be in favour of putting her stepson in a diversion program instead of prison.

Cohen - whose home burned down in the California wildfires - has pleaded not guilty to all nine charges against him.

According to the criminal complaint, some of the crimes the LA-born former model is accused of 'involved great violence, great bodily harm, threat of great bodily harm, and other acts disclosing a high degree of cruelty, viciousness and callousness'.

In count one of the charges, he allegedly committed 'first degree burglary' at the $4million home his dad and Saaty share in celebrity-rich Malibu 'with the intent to commit larceny and any felony'.

In count two, Cohen - who prosecutors say was supposed to provide elder care for his father - instead allegedly committed 'elder or dependent abuse' by inflicting 'unjustifiable physical pain and mental suffering and, having the care and custody of said victim, willfully caused and permitted him to be placed in a situation in which his health was endangered.'

In counts three and five, he is accused of kidnapping his dad and Saaty 'forcibly and by instilling fear.'

Count four alleges that he assaulted his father 'with a deadly weapon, to wit, a glass bottle.'

In count six, he's charged with assaulting Saaty 'by means of force likely to produce great bodily harm.'

Counts seven and eight accuse him of making his father and Saaty scared for their lives by issuing threats 'to commit a crime that would result in death and great bodily injury.'

In the ninth and final count against him, Cohen is alleged to have 'maliciously' vandalised Saaty's car.

The potential sentences for the charges he is facing range from two to eight years in prison. Kidnapping carries the highest maximum penalty of eight years - which would likely be his maximum sentence if he goes to trial and is convicted, since the sentences for any other convictions would commonly run concurrently.

Cohen - who has a four-year-old daughter, Marigold, by his ex-partner Chanel Wolf - has already had a taste of life in jail. After his arrest on June 26 last year, he spent five months behind bars before being released in November on $300,000 bail.

Prosecutors claim that at the time of his arrest, he was already 'on probation, mandatory supervision, post-release community supervision and parole.'

Under mental health diversion program guidelines, Cohen would have to stay clean and out of trouble for a number of years decreed by the judge.

And if he breaks the rules, he could be dragged back to court for a trial and, if convicted, end up behind bars for up to eight years.