A three-judge panel heard arguments in Anne Arundel County Circuit Court yesterday from a convicted rapist who wants his prison sentence modified so that he has a chance for parole.

A defense attorney for Walter Jose Grey, a 29-year-old Stevensville man who pleaded guilty last year to two separate attacks on women in downtown Annapolis, told the judges that the sentence of life plus 30 years handed down by Judge Paul F. Harris Jr. was beyond what prosecutors had recommended and hurt Grey's chances, though slim, for parole.

Prosecutors maintained that the stiff sentence was deliberate and appropriate for the brazen crimes. Both victims read emotional impact statements in which they described how Grey's actions had changed their lives.

In the first incident, Grey pointed a gun at a woman about 3 a.m. May 26, 2006, as she was getting into her car at City Dock and ordered her to drive around the Broadneck peninsula, where he made her stop and repeatedly raped her. He forced her to withdraw cash from an automated teller machine and threatened her, saying he had her personal information and knew where she lived.

Two months later, on July 20, he approached a 31-year-old city resident in the Historic District as she was getting out of her car and forced her to drive toward a secluded area. She fled from the vehicle as she pulled up to a stop sign.

Grey apologized for the crimes, his voice trembling, and said he has an undiagnosed disorder and needs help from prison psychiatrists.

"There is something wrong with me," he told the judges.

The judges will issue a written opinion.