A man sentenced to 26 to 56 years in state prison in 2007 after being convicted of attempted homicide and pleading guilty to assaulting multiple elderly women in the Saxonburg area argued Tuesday in Butler County Court that the sentence was illegal.

Joshua Goyette, 37, attempted to argue that because of new evidence and the semantics of the attempted homicide charge, it should be vacated.

County Judge William Shaffer took the arguments under advisement and will issue an order later. A court order was previously delivered on Oct. 12, 2016, to dismiss the petition without a hearing because it was deemed untimely and that the court lacks jurisdiction, but an attorney was appointed to represent Goyette with an amended petition.

Goyette's attorney, Kenneth Harris of Jaffe & Kecskemethy, argued that the relief filing hinges on two arguments, one involving Goyette's mother, as well as the intent of the crime.

Shaffer heard testimony from Goyette stating that he received an affidavit from his mother claiming that her written and oral statement to police in 2005, when the crime occurred, had been coerced and that there was no specific intent to harm another person, which is integral in proving the charge.

Goyette claimed in the Sept. 9, 2016, post conviction relief filing, that an affidavit, prepared by an attorney and signed by his mother on Aug. 4, 2016, states that when she talked to police in 2005 she reported that Goyette “had blood on me and came home at 4 or 4:30 a.m.,” Goyette said.

He admitted that the statement would not have been helpful to him during the trial, but said that in a phone conversation in June of last year, his mother revealed that the statement was wrong.

“I never really discussed the case with her prior to that because I thought it was useless,” he said. He also argued that the sentence was illegal because “criminal attempt to homicide is a generic charge and must have an intent to commit a specific crime.”

“The sentence cannot be coupled with criminal attempt without being found guilty of a degree of murder or manslaughter,” he claimed.

Gregory Simatic, prosecutor for the Attorney General's Office, argued that the relief filing was untimely because Goyette made zero efforts to obtain this evidence prior.

“He did not discuss the case with her, he called it pointless, and he certainly had multiple opportunities to confront her with this and she simply didn't bother,” he said, as Goyette had been in contact with his mother during and after the trial.

Goyette was sentenced on April 20, 2007, to 26 to 56 years in a state correctional institution after he pleaded guilty to numerous charges in relation to four cases, ranging from theft to indecent assault, which involved sexual assaults on elderly women. Goyette also was convicted of attempted homicide, aggravated assault and criminal mischief in the assault of 88-year-old Gertrude “Trudy” Johanson after a jury trial,

Goyette, who testified Tuesday he had “no recollection of that night,” broke into Johanson's first-floor apartment as she was sleeping and beat her in the head and hands with her own crystal candlestick on June 25, 2005, according to police.

During Goyette's sentencing hearing, a psychiatrist hired by the defense described the defendant as “an extremely disturbed” sociopath.

Goyette previously sought to have the sentence vacated several times, all of which were denied.