OTTUMWA — Court filings show attorneys for the man accused of sexually assaulting an Indian Hills Community College student want two additional months to prepare and are saying drugs or alcohol influenced their client’s behavior.

Charles Peden, 19, faces charges of sexual abuse in the third degree. The charges stem from an accusation that he had sex with the student at the Days Inn, where his basketball team was staying during a tournament in Ottumwa last December.

Prosecutors say the IHCC student was intoxicated and unable to defend herself.

Defense attorneys filed a motion on Friday to allow them to use a “defense of intoxication by drugs or alcohol” in the case. Under normal circumstances such a notification must come much earlier in a case. But the defense attorneys said there have been unique challenges in this case.

One challenge cited in the court papers is Peden’s Illinois residency. He lives in the Chicago area, and his attorneys say that hampers their ability to mount an effective defense.

“The defendant has been out of the state and communications and preparation for the defense has been difficult,” the papers say.

Peden’s defense also says that the possibility of the drug or alcohol defense arose “during the depositions,” it has conducted. They say that explains the relatively late date of the new motion.

It is unclear how such a defense might impact the terms of Peden’s parole for drug charges in Illinois.

Both distance and depositions figure into the motion to continue the pretrial conference for at least two months. The conference is currently set for Aug. 4, with the trial starting Aug. 19.

The depositions appear to be the larger factor. The defense states in its filing that the prosecution has listed more than 20 witnesses, but is having trouble producing 11 of those witnesses for depositions. The defense also contends the prosecution plans to add additional witnesses for the case.

Deposing those witnesses will take more time than the defense has before the current schedule brings the case to trial. They want to push the case back to this fall to allow them that time.

Peden faces up to 10 years in prison if convicted, and could spend the rest of his life on parole under Iowa’s sex offender laws. He has pleaded not guilty.

Matt Milner can be reached at (641) 683-5359 or via e-mail at mwmilner@mchsi.com