In a disappointing development, the white Washington man who allegedly punched an innocent Black boy in a crazy, racist fit doesn’t appear to be heading to trial anymore... but not for the reason you may think.
Paul Jonathan Bittner, 42, was deemed incompetent to stand trial after being charged with a hate crime and second-degree assault of a child, according to The Bellingham Herald. The charges stem from June 12. when Bellingham police say Bittner, a white man, confronted a Black sixth grade boy as he walked back to school with his classmates from a field trip downtown.
While walking by the county courthouse, surveillance footage shows Bittner scoot into the crowd of students and walk in front of the boy as he spoke to his white peer.
“Are you gonna talk to a white man like that?” police say the man allegedly spat at the boy right before punching him in the face.
The child suffered “immense pain” and a chipped tooth, per court documents. Bellingham police said they located Bittner and detained him shortly after the incident. Authorities in an interview, the boy told them he believed he was racially targeted by Bittner. The man pleaded not guilty to his charges, per court documents.
However, in a hearing this month, The Herald reports Bittner was cleared from having to stand trial at all following a damning competency evaluation.
Read more from Bellingham Herald:
Bittner was evaluated in the downtown jail on July 25 by Bellingham neuropsychologist Dr. John Neer, according to court records. Bittner told Neer he previously received mental health services beginning in 2009 and that he began receiving disability services around the same time. Bittner said he was diagnosed with schizophrenia.
Records reviewed by Neer show that Bittner received mental health treatment from March 2019 to April 2023 at Atascadero State Hospital, a secure forensic state psychiatric hospital in San Luis Obispo County in California. The majority of patients at the hospital are sent there for treatment by county courts or the state department of corrections and rehabilitation, according to the hospital’s website.
Records show that Bittner was prescribed psychiatric and anxiety-related medications when he was released. He had reportedly struggled with symptoms of “delusional thinking, ‘angry hallucinations,’ negative symptoms, disorganized thoughts and violence,” court records state.
If you thought that was rough, Dr. John Neer told the court Bittner appeared “manic and verbally abusive” during their one-on-one evaluation back in July, per The Herald. The report also says Neer noted Bittner “abruptly shifting to spacing off, smiling and laughing in an odd manner.” Neer stated he believed Bittner was responding to internal stimuli.
As a result of the findings, Bittner was ordered by Whatcom County Superior Court Judge Lee Grochmal to do 90 days of inpatient competency restoration treatment at Western State Hospital, the report says. It may not be the prison cell and handcuffs some believe he deserved, but it appears the boy’s family made peace with the outcome.
“We’re grateful he’s getting the help he needs, and we believe the community is safer because of it,” said the boy’s family in a statement to The Herald.