Paul Harper

A 72-year-old Portersville man leaned on his walker Tuesday as a Butler County judge accepted his plea of guilty but mentally ill for attempted criminal homicide.

Paul Harper pleaded guilty in March to shooting at Christopher Galbreath in early July 2017 over the sale of a Ford. He has remained in Butler County Prison since his arrest on July 4, 2017.

Harper's lawyer, Laurel Gift, requested in June that Judge William Shaffer change his client's guilty plea to guilty but mentally ill. While the designation doesn't change sentencing guidelines, it allows Harper to get a mental health treatment evaluation before sentencing.

Shaffer accepted the designation but refused to sentence Harper before an evaluation was made on his mental state. Assistant District Attorney Robert Zanella previously objected to the altered designation, but made no further arguments Tuesday.

This is an excerpt from a story that will appear in Wednesday's Butler Eagle.