Former UFC two-division champion B.J. Penn has been ordered by a Hilo Circuit Court judge to undergo a mental health examination to determine his fitness for trial and whether he can be held criminally responsible for the multiple charges levied against him.
The UFC Hall of Famer has been arrested five times by Hawaii police since late May in relation to an ongoing dispute with his mother, in which Penn claims that his family has been murdered and replaced with imposters. Penn currently faces multiple criminal charges from the series of incidents, including abuse of a family member, refusing to comply with a police officer and violating a restraining order.
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Judge Peter Kubota suspended the three pending cases against Penn, 46, this past Wednesday until the former UFC champion undergoes the mental examination on Jan. 9.
Per Hawaii News Now, which first reported the news:
If Penn is deemed not fit to proceed, he will be committed to the custody of the state and be placed in an appropriate facility for treatment.
If the examiner finds Penn is not penal responsible but fit to proceed, Penn could potentially use that as a defense if his case goes to trial. If it does, a judge or jury could either find Penn guilty, not guilty, or not guilty by reason of insanity.
Both Penn and his attorney tried to convince the judge not to order the exam.
“Maybe on three occasions you said, ‘Mr. Penn, I know you’re a smart man. I just think that you should get a lawyer because of all the different legal stuff,’” said Penn. “So, how did I go from a smart man to taking a mental health examination?”
Judge Jeffrey Ng granted Penn’s mother, Lorraine Shin, a one-year protection order against Penn in late August, which prevents her son from contacting her in any form prior to May 26, 2026. Shin, 79, proved her claim of “domestic abuse and/or extreme psychological abuse” during the court proceedings and alleged Penn suffers from a rare psychological disorder known as Capgras syndrome, which causes him to believe his family members have been replaced by imposters.
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Penn was arrested on back-to-back days on May 25 and May 26, then again on May 30, June 12, and Sept. 16 on charges related the situation.
Penn has made multiple posts to his social-media accounts over the past year in which he alleges his family members have been replaced by imposters, with a particular focus on his mother.
In Shin’s initial request for a restraining order, she alleged a disturbing pattern of behavior from her son. After returning from a trip in early May, Shin said she noticed many of her belongings “such as clothes, shoes, jewelry, personal items” and even her bed had all been removed from her bedroom. Shin filed a police report after Penn denied taking the items, she said, and a few days later her purse “with my driver’s license, credit card and locks for my safe” were also stolen.
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Shin said she then put up security cameras inside and outside the home, while also installing a deadbolt lock on her bedroom door. According to Shin, Penn took down or tampered with the cameras and “also put glue into my dead bolts that stopped me from opening my bedroom door.”
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Shin claimed Penn then stole her mail and aggressively shined a flashlight in her face on the night of May 25 when confronted. In order to prevent her from calling the police, Shin claimed Penn “grabbed my arms and shoved me against the 4-door gray sedan, which I felt a sharp pain in my back,” resulting in her screaming for Penn’s younger brother, Reagan, to come help. Penn was ultimately arrested and ordered to stay away from his mother’s home for 48 hours, however Shin claimed she caught Penn breaking into her home again the following day. As a result, Penn was again arrested for violating the police order.
Penn last fought in the UFC in 2019, suffering his seventh consecutive loss. He was later released by the UFC after a video was released showing Penn in a street fight outside a Hawaii bar.
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