B.J. Penn ruled mentally fit to stand trial amid recent arrests

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A judge has ruled that UFC Hall of Famer B.J. Penn is mentally fit enough to proceed to trial after he underwent a court-ordered evaluation following a multitude of arrests over the past year. On May 29, Judge Peter Kubota officially signed an order allowing Penn to move forward with the criminal cases against him after undergoing court-ordered mental health evaluation. From the court order signed by the judge: “The court, having reviewed the reports of defendant’s appointed examiner and noting that neither the state nor the defendant’s counsel contests the findings and contents of the report, finds by a preponderance of the evidence that defendant is fit to proceed.” Penn was then ordered to appear back in court on Aug. 28 for further proceedings related to his criminal case. Hawaii News Now first reported the court order. Penn was arrested five times in 2025 after he was initially taken into custody on two separate occasions for abuse of a family or household member. The allegations came from Penn’s mother Lorraine Shin, who was also granted a restraining order against her son that he eventually violated multiple times, which led to additional arrests. Shin accused Penn of “extreme psychological abuse” after he began claiming that members of his family had been “killed” and replaced by imposters. The disturbing allegations against Penn started after Shin claimed she returned home from a trip and found all of her belongings removed from her bedroom. Penn denied any involvement in the missing property. A few days later, Shin claimed her purse was stolen from a safe, which led to her making a theft report with police. Prior to filing for the restraining order, Shin told police she returned home from a separate trip and found Penn had allegedly put duct tape over her security cameras and glue into the deadbolt lock on her bedroom door to prevent her from entering. Shin later accused Penn of stealing her mail and when she claimed she found the mail in the back of a vehicle that belonged to one of her son’s friends, the 46-year-old fighter denied the accusation and allegedly grabbed Shin’s arms and shoved her against the car, which led to his mother screaming at the top of her lungs for her son Reagan Penn to help her. Penn was eventually arrested and told to stay away from his mother for the next 48 hours, but Shin claims he returned to the home and presented video evidence as proof to police, which led to Penn’s second arrest in as many days. “I believe my son [B.J. Penn] is suffering from Capgras delusional syndrome (a psychiatric disorder in which a person holds a delusion that a friend, spouse, parent, other close family member has been replaced by an identical imposter),” Shin told police when filing for the restraining order. “He believes I’m an imposter who has killed his family to gain control of the family assets. “In the best interest for my safety, I ask the court for a six-month [temporary restraining order] and have my son ordered to get medical treatment or other source of therapy.” While the original charge is only listed as a misdemeanor punishable by a minimum of 48 hours in jail, with a second offense punishable with a minimum sentence of 30 days in jail, the full weight of all the various charges against Penn haven’t been determined yet.

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B.J. Penn has been arrested five times since Memorial Day in 2025, as he continues to say his family have been replaced by imposters.

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UFC Hall of Famer B.J. Penn was arrested numerous times in 2025 after a domestic dispute with his mother