D-Day for Didier Cohen: Jail or Rehab?

The stakes could not have been higher when Didier Cohen walked into a 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 .

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 , 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.'

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