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Woman who says Jesus will be her lawyer in shooting case deemed fit to stand for trial, B.C. judge rules
A B.C. judge has decided that a woman who believes Jesus Christ will help her fight allegations of recklessly discharging a gun is mentally fit to stand trial.
According to a recently published provincial court decision , Crown counsel, on the expert advice of forensic psychiatrist Dr. Garen Gharakhanian, had applied to have Denise Angela Norris declared unfit “based on her diagnosis of unspecified psychosis with religious delusions,” an assessment not contested by her court-appointed lawyer.
The Crown argued that because Norris does not recognize the court’s authority, she “will not actively engage in the court process and will not participate in her defence because, in her view, there is no point,” judge Kristen Mundstock wrote.
In opposing the application, defence counsel insisted Norris was aware of the proceedings, but she ultimately believed “her spiritual fate will be decided by God.”
The Crown submitted reports from five of the meetings between the “deeply religious or spiritual” Norris and Gharakhanian, snippets of which were included in Mundstock’s decision.
During their earliest encounter, Norris acknowledged the existence of courts, judges and prosecutors, but could not explain the charges against her, which she dismissed as “man-made.”
“She said Jesus was her defence lawyer, he will be present at her hearing and she will take instructions from him,” Gharakhanian explained, adding that she communicates with the son of God “mentally and through prayers, while Jesus communicated to her two or three times per day by speaking to her.
“She said she could hear Jesus with her ears and has had visions of him,” he wrote.
As the weeks progressed, these beliefs remained unchanged. Norris insisted she would represent herself in court, with Jesus speaking through her and that the final decision will be made by God.
The psychiatrist said Norris “denied auditory or visual hallucinations”, but said she insisted that “Jesus does speak to her and she was married to God.”
“She then started talking about her relationship to God and Jesus Christ and claimed she had seen Jesus Christ and the devil.”
Norris, who refused to attend court by video because she said it was akin to “playing video games with her life,” also repeatedly stated that provincial law did not apply to her and that the RCMP lacked the authority “to enter her residence, even if she was destroying property.”
In his final report, Gharakhanian said Norris continued to express this belief — distinguishing between B.C. and God’s jurisdiction — and maintain her innocence.
“She said she did not shoot at police and if she were to shoot at them she would have hit them,” the judge wrote. “She also stated the police shot at her and stated the police shot her in the chest to kill her.”
Even with a clear mental disorder, in Mundstock’s view, Norris’s understanding of the legal process and their seriousness indicate she’s able to conduct a defence or instruct her lawyer to do so.
The judge emphasized that fitness does not depend on whether an accused makes good decisions, only whether they are capable of making and communicating decisions. Unlike other cases where delusions caused persons to believe everyone involved the legal process was colluding against them, Norris didn’t appear to have any “persecutory beliefs.”
“Norris’s belief system may interfere with her ability to make the best decisions in conducting her defence, but that is not the standard upon which fitness is measured,” they concluded. “Ms. Norris is entitled to make poor decisions if she chooses.”
The decision does not provide any details on the nature of the Crown’s case against Norris, but it does provide a date and a geographic location for her alleged reckless discharge of a firearm as June 19, 2025, in or near Agassiz, just northeast of Chilliwack. She also referenced shooting and being shot by police during her interviews with Gharakhanian.
All of that aligns with an incident reported by the Agassiz RCMP , which is now the subject of investigation by the Independent Investigations Office of B.C. , the province’s police oversight entity.
According to the Mounties, officers were called to a residential disturbance that evening, where they found a person with a handgun who “reportedly pointed the gun at police before going into the home.”
Police allege the person returned, pointed the gun outside and fired a shot, resulting in officers returning fire and striking the person before they reentered the home.
The IIO report indicates the accused was air-lifted to the hospital.
According to the court decision, when first taken into custody, Norris refused to take anti-psychotic medication and had to be restrained to be injected. She eventually agreed to accept oral medication, despite denying the need for it.
Norris, who remains in custody, also initially refused to eat, stating that “the eternal body will be with God, the body left behind will decompose.” She eventually started eating again.
The B.C. Prosecution Service told National Post in an email that she is set to appear in court on Monday.
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