#JusticeDenied: When Mushrooms Excuse Attempted Rape
By Tina Winterlik aka Zipolita
June 22, 2025
A woman was assaulted, knocked to the ground, sexually violated, and nearly raped.
And the man who did it? He was found not criminally responsible—because he took magic mushrooms and claimed God told him to have sex to save the world.
Let that sink in.
This is not a sci-fi horror movie. This is real, and it happened in Surrey, British Columbia, in a courtroom under Canadian law.
⚖️ What Happened
According to a report by @cbcnews, Leon-Jamal Daniel Barrett took magic mushrooms and had what the judge called a “psychotic episode.” He then:
- Left his house believing God would send him a woman
- Attacked a stranger
- Knocked her down
- Smashed her breast
- Tried to take off her jeans
The victim fought him off.
And somehow—because he was high and psychotic—he was found not guilty.
🧠“Mental Illness” and the Weaponization of Insanity
Mental illness is real, and people who are truly struggling deserve care and compassion. But mental illness is not a free pass to hurt people, especially women.
This isn’t the first time the “not criminally responsible” (NCR) defense has been used to explain away violence against women:
- Men who attack, rape, or kill, and later claim they were intoxicated or delusional
- Courts that sympathize with the attacker’s “state of mind” more than the victim’s trauma
- Legal systems that treat women’s safety as secondary to men’s mental fragility
💬 Why This Matters
If a woman was tripping on mushrooms and committed violence, would the courts be as lenient? Or is this just another case where men are protected and women are blamed or forgotten?
This case sends a dangerous message:
“If you’re high or mentally unstable, your violence isn’t your fault.”
What about her trauma? What about her body? What about her future?
📣 We Say: #JusticeDenied
This isn’t just a “weird court case”—it’s part of a pattern where women's bodies become collateral damage in a justice system built to excuse male violence.
We demand:
- Legal reforms on how NCR is applied in sexual assault cases
- Victim-centered justice that doesn’t ignore harm just because intent is murky
- A public conversation about consent, responsibility, and the failures of our court system
✊ You Are Not Alone
To every woman who's ever been told her pain wasn’t “real enough,” “bad enough,” or “legally relevant enough”: We see you. We believe you. We will not be silent.
This blog is my small way of standing up and saying: This is not okay.
— Tina Winterlik aka Zipolita
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