LOS ANGELES (CN) — A court-appointed psychiatrist has deemed the man accused of crashing his car through the front gate of actor Jennifer Aniston's home to be mentally incompetent to stand trial.
Jimmy Wayne Carwyle appeared in a Hollywood courtroom Thursday wearing an anti-suicide smock. His public defender Robert Krauss told the court that his client wants a second opinion — implying that Carwyle wants to stand trial.
The judge granted the request and set a new hearing for May 29. Carwyle was taken back to Twin Towers Correctional Facility where he's currently being held in lieu of $150,000 bail.
Carwyle, a 48-year-old Mississippi native, has been charged with one count each of felony stalking and felony vandalism, with an aggravating circumstance of the threat of great bodily harm. According to prosecutors, Carwyle repeatedly harassed Aniston, an actress famous for her role as Rachel on the sitcom "Friends," for two years, sending her unwanted social media, voicemails and email messages.
Prosecutors also say that shortly after noon on May 5, Carwyle crashed his car through the front gate of Aniston's sprawling $21 million midcentury Bel-Air mansion, "causing substantial damage, and stopped in her driveway," according to a district attorney press release. He was detained by Aniston's security guard before police arrived. No one was injured in the incident.
“Stalking is a crime that can quickly escalate from harassment to dangerous, violent actions, threatening the safety of victims and our communities,” District Attorney Nathan Hochman said in the news release.
Carwyle pleaded not guilty at a previous hearing, where he was ordered to stay away from Aniston while awaiting trial. If convicted on both charges, he faces up to three years in state prison.
A longtime friend of Carwyle from Mississippi, Marty Merritt, said in a video posted to Facebook that sometime after the coronavirus pandemic, Carwyle started saying that God wanted him to marry Aniston.
“I’m so sorry Ms. Aniston that this happened to you,” Mr. Merritt said in the video.
An attorney for Aniston was in court for Carwyle's hearing on Thursday. She declined to comment.
Follow @hillelaron
Subscribe to our free newsletters
Our weekly newsletter Closing Arguments offers the latest about ongoing trials, major litigation and rulings in courthouses around the U.S. and the world, while the monthly Under the Lights dishes the legal dirt from Hollywood, sports, Big Tech and the arts.
