Rape suspect's bond postponed for second evaluation
Alleged Montgomery College rapist's new hearing set for March 4 in Rockville court
Montgomery College rape suspect Nathaniel L. Hart's bond hearing was postponed a second time in Rockville District Court Thursday, pending a further psychiatric evaluation.
Hart, 34, of 1320 Nicholson St. NW, Washington, D.C., appeared before District Court Judge Stephen P. Johnson, who reset Hart's bond hearing for March 4 pending a second psychiatric evaluation at the Clifton T. Perkins Hospital Center in Jessup. Hart first appeared before District Court Judge Eugene Wolfe, who postponed his Jan. 27 bond hearing for one week to conduct a diagnostic test.
"But I haven't spoken to an attorney yet," Hart replied when Johnson informed him of the second evaluation. Public defender Janet Friedman explained Myra Kovach, another public defender, will be in touch with Hart shortly.
It is unclear why the court has filed for a second evaluation. The first evaluation was ordered by Wolfe after he was advised by a Clinical Assessment Triage Service team at the county detention center because Hart had been hallucinating, said Hart's then-public defender, Audrey Creighton. Kovach did not immediately return phone calls for comment.
Hart enrolled at the Takoma Park/Silver Spring campus of Montgomery College last spring, enrolling in a single biology class and working as a student tutor in the same subject, said college spokeswoman Elizabeth Homan.
Hart was later confronted twice by campus security Jan. 15 when he allegedly attempted to spend a night sleeping in a women's bathroom on campus, Homan said. When confronted, Hart produced an expired student identification card and was escorted off campus, Homan said.
Only 11 days later, Hart allegedly raped a 19-year-old female twice in a second-floor bathroom of the college's new performing arts center at Georgia Avenue and East West Highway, according to charging documents filed in Montgomery County District Court.