Didier Cohen, the Australia’s Next Top Model personality, has been taken into custody again and could now face a US trial carrying a potential sentence of up to eight years.
The 41-year-old actor and DJ had appeared to receive a significant break just two months ago, after being accused of assaulting his father and stepmother, abducting them and issuing death threats. Cohen has denied all allegations and pleaded not guilty.
Rather than sending the case involving nine felony counts directly to trial, Los Angeles Judge Andrea Thompson approved Cohen for a mental health diversion program.
Under the agreement, he was required to avoid further legal trouble, stay away from drugs and complete two years of rehabilitation. If he successfully met those conditions, the charges could have been dismissed and his criminal record cleared.
However, a report by Daily Mail says Cohen has now jeopardised that opportunity.
He was arrested this week over an alleged breach of the diversion terms and returned to custody.
Didier Cohen has been taken into custody again and could now face a US trial, where a conviction could result in a sentence of up to eight years
His diversion arrangement has reportedly been revoked, and he is due back before Judge Thompson next month. The judge may take a less forgiving approach when Cohen’s case returns to court.
Authorities have not disclosed what allegedly triggered the violation. Neither the prosecution nor Cohen’s attorney, Charlie Unger, has provided a detailed explanation.
Deputy Los Angeles District Attorney Frederick Engell told Daily Mail: “Mr. Cohen is in custody right now. He will be back in court on December 3 and his mental health diversion is suspended until then.”
Unger also declined to elaborate on the circumstances of the arrest. He said, however, that Cohen had “struggled” with the diversion program, which allowed him to receive treatment as an outpatient. By contrast, the lawyer said Cohen had “done very well” during an earlier residential rehabilitation program.
Cohen’s next hearing is expected to be more challenging. Judge Thompson issued an arrest warrant and removed him from the program after he allegedly failed to attend a progress hearing earlier this week.
The judge ordered Cohen to remain behind bars until the upcoming hearing, where the circumstances of the alleged breach will be reviewed.
Should the revocation stand, prosecutors could seek to move forward with the original criminal case.
If he were convicted at trial, Cohen could receive a prison sentence of as long as eight years.
Two months ago, the Australia’s Next Top Model star (pictured left) was given a reprieve after being accused of assaulting his father and stepmother. He is pictured with Jennifer Hawkins, Alex Perry and Cheyenne Tozzi in 2015
Cohen was arrested this week over an alleged violation of the mental health diversion program and returned to custody
Cohen, who was born in the United States, was arrested in June last year and charged with several offences. Prosecutors alleged the case involved “great violence, great bodily harm, threats of great bodily harm, and other acts disclosing a high degree of cruelty, viciousness and callousness”.
He was accused of entering the $4 million Malibu property occupied by his 72-year-old father, David Cohen, and his 52-year-old stepmother, Avesta Saaty. Prosecutors allege that he attacked his father with a bottle, assaulted Saaty and abducted both of them.
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Cohen, who was reportedly expected to help care for his father, was also charged with allegedly threatening the lives of both David Cohen and Saaty, as well as damaging Saaty’s vehicle. He has pleaded not guilty to every charge.
Los Angeles prosecutors opposed diversion and urged Judge Thompson to send the matter to trial.
But Cohen’s lawyer, Unger – who managed to get his client released on $300,000 bail after spending five months in jail – filed a motion claiming the troubled ex-model suffers from a ‘mental disorder.’
Instead of spending the next years behind bars, Unger argued, Cohen should be released to a supervised ‘mental health diversion program,’ which would allow him to live free so long as he complied with the program’s rules and conditions.
Prosecutors vehemently objected to the diversion, reminding Judge Thompson that ‘There were serious injuries to victims in this case.’
The judge ordered Cohen – who has a four-year-old daughter, Marigold, by his estranged partner, Chanel Wolf – to be examined by a psychiatrist and other mental health experts.
American-born Cohen was arrested in June last year and charged with multiple offences. Pictured with Miranda Kerr in 2009
He was accused of breaking into the $4million Malibu home his 72-year-old father, David Cohen, shares with his stepmother, Avesta Saaty, 52, attacking his dad with a bottle, assaulting Saaty and kidnapping both of them
And in August, after talking to those experts, and the victims, Judge Thompson ruled in Cohen’s favor, decreeing that he is ‘eligible and suitable’ for a two-year mental health diversion, at the successful end of which, his criminal record would be expunged.
‘The defendant has been diagnosed with an eligible mental health disorder….and was diagnosed with or treated for the disorder within the last five years,’ said the judge in a written declaration.
‘The defendant’s mental disorder was a significant factor in the commission of the charged offense.
‘In the opinion of a qualified mental health expert, the defendant’s symptoms of the mental disorder causing, contributing to, or motivating the criminal behavior would respond to mental health treatment.
‘The defendant will not pose an unreasonable risk of danger to public safety if treated in the community.’
Noting that Cohen had already spent the previous eight months at a residential drug and mental health treatment facility, the judge ordered him to continue treatment as an outpatient at a similar rehabilitation hospital for the next two years.
Judge Thompson also imposed several strict conditions, ordering that Cohen not possess weapons including guns or knives, not ‘annoy, harass or molest’ his father or Saaty and not use or sell illegal drugs or associate with drug users or dealers.
She warned him that if he drops out of the program for any reason, stops taking his doctor-ordered medications or refuses to comply with random drug-testing during the two years, he’ll be brought back to court to face trial on the original charges.
Although Judge Thompson’s order this week states that Cohen’s ‘mental health diversion remains revoked’, Unger told Daily Mail the diversion had been ‘suspended not revoked’ and said he remained hopeful the judge would reinstate the program at the December 3 hearing and transfer the TV star to a residential treatment facility.
Unger added, ‘The judge has given every indication that mental health diversion will continue in a residential facility since more residential work is needed as things have not worked out so far with non-residential treatment.’