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An appeal by a convicted Edmonton sex offender who argued a judge refused to grant him an adjournment to get medical evidence on his injured penis has been tossed out.

Robert Allen Cote, 60, was sentenced to 6-1/2 years in prison after being convicted of sexual assault with a weapon, possession of a dangerous weapon and uttering death threats.

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However, Cote — who testified in his own defence that he could not have sexually assaulted the victim as he was “incapable of getting an erection” — appealed the 2014 conviction, saying he was denied an opportunity to present medical evidence on his injury.

In a decision issued this week, a three-judge panel of the Court of Appeal of Alberta dismissed the appeal after ruling the judge’s denial of an adjournment was reasonable in the circumstances.

The panel noted there was no information before the provincial court trial judge as to a specific witness who could give a medical opinion being identified, nor was there an estimate of a reasonable time when such a witness could be made available.

Defence lawyer Derek Anderson had argued during the Dec. 1 appeal that the expert medical evidence could have provided an opinion at the trial as to whether Cote’s penis injury could have had an impact on his ability to obtain and maintain an erection.