The harassment charge against former SCTV and Saturday Night Live comedian Tony Rosato has been downgraded by the prosecutor in the case.

In court in Kingston, Ont., Tuesday, assistant Crown attorney Priscilla Christie lowered the charge from indictable to summary, said Rosato's lawyer, Daniel Brodsky.

"If you were using the American language, 'cause we all watch a lot of TV, … today Mr. Rosato's charge was reduced from a felony to a misdemeanour," Brodsky said.

He added that he applauds the move, but it should have happened a lot sooner.

"If the Crown had proceeded by summary conviction from the outset, this case would have been over in November of 2005," he said.

Rosato, 52, has been in jail since he was charged in 2005 with criminally harassing his wife, Leah, after he complained to police that Leah and their daughter had gone missing and had been replaced by impostors.

On Wednesday, Rosato pleaded not guilty to the charge against him and then took the witness stand.

Over the course of an hour, he described how he believed his wife had been replaced by someone else, possibly by a twin sister.

That belief is consistent with Capgras's syndrome, a mental disorder with which Rosato has been diagnosed, said Patricia Forsdyke, a member of the Kingston branch of the Ontario Schizophrenia Society, outside the courthouse.

She said Rosato's testimony isn't credible, and probably represents "the tip of the iceberg of some of the other delusional thoughts he's had."

Rosato's lawyer said his client will likely be ordered into treatment for mental illness whether he is found guilty or not.