NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — A Nashville man who has been arrested nearly 100 times has been charged with three new crimes: aggravated rape, aggravated kidnapping and robbery. Police say he attacked an Amazon delivery driver last week.
Carl Hamilton, 34, has been arrested multiple times at an apartment complex off of President Ronald Reagan Way. He does not live there and does not have permission to be there. Police say that is where he attacked an Amazon delivery driver last week while she was working in the mailroom.
Police say Hamilton pushed the female driver into the room and shut the door. He demanded she take off her clothes and proceeded to rape her, police said. He then forced her to withdraw $100 from her bank account and drove her around in her vehicle before abandoning both her and the car.
Listen to Nashville Police Chief John Drake sound off on repeat offenders and crime in the player above.
Surveillance footage from the apartment complex helped identify Hamilton as a suspect because he had been there before. In January and March of this year, Hamilton was found on the property and was arrested for criminal trespassing, public intoxication, and drug paraphernalia.
All of those charges were dropped the day before he was accused of attacking the Amazon driver.
Hamilton's past
Hamilton has been charged more than 90 times in 14 years, and last week's kidnapping charge isn't the first time he's faced the accusation.
Two years ago, he pleaded guilty to kidnapping a woman in 2020 at another downtown Nashville apartment complex, where he previously stole a TV, mail, a computer, and a printer. Just like the apartment complex this year, the Nance Place Apartments had forbidden Hamilton from being on the property.
The kidnapping happened in the complex's parking garage, where the victim was with her dog. The victim said Hamilton followed her down three flights of stairs and commented on her dog, according to court records. She decided to go back up the stairs when she said Hamilton placed his hand on her mouth and forced her to drop her dog.
The woman said Hamilton took her phone so she couldn't call for help. The woman said Hamilton repeatedly told her that no one was going to hear her screams and threatened to hurt her if she kept screaming.
Hamilton told the victim the FBI wanted him, and he used her phone to call the same number three times. Eventually, a neighbor she knew helped the woman escape and Hamilton left with her phone.
He eventually pleaded guilty to all charges, but only had to serve 30% of his six-year sentence. He was released in October.
Competency in question
Hamilton's competency became a concern in the 2020 kidnapping case.
After he was arrested, Hamilton told police he didn't remember anything that happened at the Nance Place Apartments. He told police he only asked to borrow the victim's phone and she "flipped out" when he tried to give it back to her.
His defense team tried to figure out his mental state at the time of the crime.
“Due to concerns regarding Mr. Hamilton’s mental state at the time of our evaluation and its impact on his competency to stand trial, we recommend the court consider inpatient evaluation," a doctor with Vanderbilt University wrote to the court.
During that evaluation, doctors found Hamilton understood his actions and was capable of helping with his defense in court.
However this year, Hamilton's charges — which were dropped — were moved to Judge Melissa Blackburn's Mental Health court. The court found he was not competent and the charges had to be dropped.
Mental incompetency and the courts
The Tennessee state legislature just passed a new law that changes the way mental incompetency cases are handled in court. It goes into effect July 1.
Right now, anyone who is found not competent to stand trial — either because of mental illness or disability — is not held liable for their crimes. They are allowed to return home and do not receive help mandated by the court.
With this bill, that would change. Those found incompetent to stand trial would be required to receive inpatient or outpatient treatment. The court would have to keep up with their progress. The new law also prohibits that person from owning a gun. If that person can be treated and regain competency, their criminal case would restart and they would face charges.
The bill was named for Jillian Ludwig, a Belmont freshman who was shot and killed last year. The man charged with killing her was previously found mentally incompetent twice by the court and released.
During the last six months, we've covered many cases dealing with mental incompetency and the courts.
You can read our work below.
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