Man charged with stalking Jennifer Aniston found mentally incompetent to stand trial

Jimmy Wayne Carwyle, who has pleaded not guilty, declared not mentally fit to face charges of vandalism and felony stalking of the Friends actor

A judge declared on Thursday that a man is mentally incompetent to stand trial on charges of stalking Jennifer Aniston and crashing his car through her front gate.

The move in a Los Angeles County mental health court came after a second psychiatrist examined the defendant, Jimmy Wayne Carwyle, and reached the same conclusion as the first: that his mental health would not allow him to answer to felony charges of vandalism and stalking of the Friends star.

“The court finds the defendant is not currently competent to stand trial,” judge Maria Cavalluzzi said. “Criminal proceedings will remain suspended.”

Carwyle, 48, of Mississippi, has pleaded not guilty. He appeared behind glass in a custody area of the courtroom and did not speak. He looked vastly different than his previous two court hearings. His scraggly gray hair and beard had been shorn, and he was wearing bright yellow county jail clothing after previously appearing with bare shoulders, wrapped in a blanket-like smock meant for suicide prevention.

Carwyle had argued that he is competent and exercised his right to a second opinion after an initial incompetence finding last week.

“It’s not the outcome my client would have preferred,” deputy public defender Robert Krauss told the judge.

A conviction on the charges, along with an aggravating circumstance of the threat of great bodily harm, could bring up to three years in prison for Carwyle. The incompetence finding has no set end date but it is temporary and the standard criminal process could resume later.

Cavalluzzi ordered more comprehensive mental evaluations to help determine where and how he will be held and what his treatment will be. The judge will get a report on the results at a hearing on 26 June, where Aniston or her attorney will be allowed to share her perspective on the case.

Aniston’s lawyer, Blair Berk, was in the courtroom observing on Thursday but did not speak. Berk and the deputy district attorney handling the case declined to comment outside court.

Prosecutors allege Carwyle had been harassing Aniston with a flood of voicemail, email and social media messages for two years before driving his Chrysler PT Cruiser through the gate of her home in the wealthy Bel Air neighborhood of Los Angeles on 5 May, causing major damage. A security guard stopped him in her driveway until police arrived. Authorities said Aniston was home at the time but did not come into contact and no one was injured.

Aniston became one of television’s biggest stars in her 10 years on NBC’s Friends, from 1994 until 2004. She won an Emmy award for best lead actress in a comedy for the role and she has been nominated for nine more. She currently stars in The Morning Show on Apple TV+.