It took a jury about an hour to decide that a man living at a homeless shelter four years ago is not guilty of the more serious of the six charges he faced, including ethnic intimidation.

Julian A. Bindernagel, 28, of Butler, was found not guilty Tuesday, March 14, of ethnic intimidation, aggravated assault and simple assault, but guilty of disorderly conduct, simple assault with mutual consent and criminal mischief in a fracas that left Robert Faitelson, 55, also of Butler, with two black eyes and serious damage to his cheekbone and nose.

Faitelson testified on Monday. Bindernagel took the stand Tuesday in front of the jury and Judge Timothy McCune at county Common Pleas Court to be questioned by his attorney, Joseph Smith.

Bindernagel testified that he was enjoying his corn cob pipe on Nov. 14, 2019, outside the Butler shelter, although he was “mismedicated” and experiencing auditory hallucinations.

He said Faitelson, whom he only knew because he had “witnessed about Jesus to him,” shoved the door open behind him.

“He said ‘Are you going to stand there in my way all day, you stupid idiot?’” Bindernagel testified. “I raised my tone and said ‘Don’t call me a stupid idiot.’”

He said Faitelson, who is in his 50s, spun around and reacted aggressively, cornering him against a plate glass exterior wall.

“He said ‘Your God is fake, and you should kill yourself,’” Bindernagel testified.

He said Faitelson went to another door at the shelter and told the woman inside Bindernagel had threatened to kill him because he was a Jew.

“I told the lady I didn’t say that,” Bindernagel testified.

Asked by Smith how he felt at that point, he replied he was fed up and suicidal.

“Then I said something I shouldn’t have said,” Bindernagel told the court. “I said, ‘You’re a child molester.’”

He said Faitelson, the larger man of the two, dropped his packages and approached him aggressively, cornering him again while screaming in his face and spitting on him.

Bindernagel said he shoved Faitelson and kicked him to the ground in self-defense.

He said Faitelson put him in a chokehold.

“It became a fistfight,” Bindernagel said. “I was so filled with just confusion.”

Smith asked Bindernagel if he ever said “the only good Jew is a dead Jew.”

“Absolutely not, and I never would,” he replied.

During cross examination, Laura Pitchford, assistant district attorney, asked Bindernagel if he witnessed about Jesus to Faitelson in the past with the goal of converting him from Judaism to Christianity.

“Yes, of course,” Bindernagel replied.

“In your mind, Christianity is the right way?’ Pitchford asked.

“Yes, I know it is,” Bindernagel replied.

Pitchford asked Bindernagel if he is aware of what a child molester is and if Faitelson did anything to make him think he is a child molester.

He replied that he said it because he was 25 and Faitelson was 52.

“I didn’t believe he was a child molester,” Bindernagel said.

Pitchford asked Bindernagel about his testimony that after the fight, he waited at the shelter for “police to come and arrest me.”

She asked why he stuck around until police arrived.

“Because I submit to the law,” Bindernagel replied.

She asked if he was submitting to the law when he repeatedly punched and kicked Faitelson.

“The laws of self-defense and stand your ground law,” Bindernagel replied.

In his closing argument, Smith told the jury that Americans can legally defend themselves if they feel threatened with violence, and reminded them Faitelson had his client cornered against a large glass window.

“Maybe he overestimated the amount of force he needed to use, but that’s allowed,” Smith said.

The jurors saw video of the fight multiple times via surveillance cameras at the shelter.

Pitchford reminded the jury that Faitelson underwent three surgeries over five months after the beating and continues to suffer physical issues from it.

She also produced the corn cob pipe Bindernagel had been smoking and never dropped throughout the fight.

She said the stem of the pipe could have been the cause of cuts on Faitelson’s face and his right eye remaining swollen shut for three days after the incident.

After court recessed following the verdict, Faitelson and his family commented before leaving.

“It goes to prove you can walk around the streets and beat anybody up for no reason,” Faitelson said.

Bindernagel hugged Smith and those in the courtroom who supported him.

“We are happy with the verdict,” Smith said. “The jury heard the evidence, and we accept the verdict of the jury and we respect that.”