Former UFC champion BJ Penn’s legal troubles took another turn this week when a Hawaii family court judge rejected his unusual request to verify his mother’s identity through supervised testing.
Penn appeared before Hilo Family Court Judge Jeffrey Ng on Tuesday, asking the court to vacate the temporary restraining order filed against him by his 79-year-old mother, Lorraine Shin. More startling was his additional request for what he called “a supervised identity verification.”
When pressed by the judge to clarify his meaning, Penn explained that he wanted “a very thorough identity test to make sure this unknown woman filing this TRO against Jay Dee Penn is, in fact, Lorraine Shin.”
Judge Ng promptly denied the request.
Concerns about Penn’s mental state have been mounting since his arrest in May on domestic abuse charges. His mother obtained the temporary restraining order against him that same day, alleging what she describes as “extreme psychological abuse.”
According to court documents, Shin claims her son has accused her of “killing his family and taking over his mother’s identity” and has demanded that “he wants me to be removed from his home.” She has expressed her belief that Penn may be suffering from Capgras delusional syndrome, a rare psychiatric condition where individuals become convinced that close family members have been replaced by identical imposters.
Penn’s delusions appear to extend beyond his mother. In recent social media posts, he has suggested that multiple family members, including his siblings, have been replaced by imposters. Most disturbingly, he has also targeted deceased individuals in his posts, including Calsey Brian Nobuyuki Santos, who died in 2012.
The 46-year-old former champion has been arrested twice in recent weeks for violating the restraining order by returning to his mother’s home on Pu’u’eo Street in Hilo. During his previous court appearance, Penn made the startling declaration that his mother “isn’t part of his family,” questioning why his case was being handled in family court rather than criminal court.
“This doesn’t have to do with the fact of me and Lorraine not being families,” Penn told the judge during that earlier hearing. The judge clarified that it was “a criminal case in family court, sir.”
Penn announced in Tuesday’s proceedings that he would be representing himself in both the criminal and civil cases after failing to retain legal counsel. The temporary restraining order against him remains in effect until November 23, requiring him to stay away from the family home.
Prosecutors have reportedly been seeking a court-ordered mental health examination for Penn, whose behavior has raised serious concerns among family members and the broader mixed martial arts community.
Judge Ng scheduled an evidentiary hearing for August 12, during which Penn will be permitted to question his mother in the civil case. His criminal trial is set to begin July 2.
