Ex-Australia's Next Top Model star Didier Cohen's alleged 'callous, vicious and cruel attack' on father and stepmother - as his defence makes bold bid for freedom

Australia's Next Top Model star Didier Cohen will have to wait another two months to find out if he will be serving up to eight years in an American prison.

The actor, 40, stands accused of brutally attacking his father David Cohen with a bottle, assaulting his step-mother Avesta Saaty, kidnapping them both, and threatening to kill them - along with other shocking felonies. 

His lawyer, Charles Unger, filed a motion pleading with Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Andrea Thompson at a criminal court hearing on Friday, saying Cohen should not stand trial, which could lead to his conviction and years behind bars.

Instead, attorney Unger asked the judge to order the troubled star to enrol in a 'mental health diversion program', which would mean if he stayed out of trouble for a set number of years, all the charges against him would be thrown out.

Since she's newly appointed to oversee the case, Judge Thompson postponed her ruling on the motion to another hearing on May 15, saying she wants to 'hear from mental health experts, victims, other family members and everyone involved with the case'.

Meanwhile, prosecutor Frederick Engell is pushing for Cohen to be put on trial, telling the judge: 'There were serious injuries to victims in this case.'

He indicated that Cohen's 72-year-old father may have forgiven his son for the attack, saying: 'His father is pro mental health diversion.' 

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

Judge Thompson agreed the case involved 'very serious injuries' and told the court that when she decides whether to put Cohen in a diversion program or order him to stand trial, 'the safety of the community is paramount, as well as the needs of the defendant'.

Cohen - whose home burned down in last year's devastating LA fires - has pleaded not guilty to all nine charges against him.

He showed up at Friday's hearing with his heavily-tattooed head shaved and wearing a dark suit and tie with a white shirt.

Despite the severity of his alleged crimes, his lawyers argue that rather than locking him up, supervised mental health treatment would be more appropriate for Cohen, who is already living in a residential drug treatment program.

In a written brief, found by Daily Mail, they wrote that when California lawmakers enacted mental health diversion provisions eight years ago, 'the express purpose of this legislation was to increase diversion of mentally ill individuals based on concerns that incarceration only serves to aggravate their pre-existing conditions and does little to deter future lawlessness'.

'Successful mental health treatment helps the person and makes the community safer,' the brief continued. 

'Diversion is intended to provide eligible defendants with treatment opportunities that address the root causes of their criminal behaviour, ultimately reducing recidivism and promoting public safety.'

According to the criminal complaint against Cohen, 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 $4 million 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, wilfully 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 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, he is alleged to have 'maliciously' vandalised Saaty's car.

The 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, with his estranged partner, Chanel Wolf - has already had a taste of life in prison. After his arrest on June 26 last year, he spent five months in jail before being released in November on $300,000 bail.

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

On Friday, Judge Thompson allowed Cohen to remain free on the same $300,000 bail until the May 15 hearing, which means he will stay at the drug rehabilitation facility he currently resides in.

At an earlier hearing, Cohen's lawyer, Unger, explained the workings of the mental health diversion program to Daily Mail, saying: 'In place of being convicted and sentenced, Didier would have to agree to stay clean and comply with all the rules and conditions laid down by the judge for a set period, probably two years.

'If he did comply with all those conditions and complete the diversion program, the charges against him would eventually be dismissed.'

But, he warned that if Cohen - who now goes by the name Meyer Love Moquin - did not comply with all the diversion conditions, 'he could be brought to court and sent to state prison for a very long time'.