Woman becomes first domestic abuse survivor to win retrial under new law

By Kilee Thomas

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    SEMINOLE, Oklahoma (KOCO) — A domestic abuse survivor who killed her attacker walked free Wednesday after 34 years in prison.

Lisa Moss was sentenced to life in prison in 1990 for felony murder and conspiracy. Decades later, she stood in front of a Seminole County judge and got a second chance on a historic day for Oklahoma.

Moss became the first person under the new Oklahoma Survivors’ Act to have a retrial and prove her abuse played a significant role in her crime. She left the courthouse a free woman–and believed.

“It means a second chance. It means finally being heard and believed, and it means I can move on with life and spend time with my family and my children,” Moss said.

Moss was in an abusive relationship with her husband, according to her attorney. When she told her brother about the abuse and how her daughter was experiencing sexual abuse from him, her brother shot and killed her husband, Lanny Mike Moss.

She testified that the domestic and sexual abuse she and her daughter experienced at the hands of her husband led to her conviction. The trial lasted just one day, and the judge reached a decision by the afternoon.

“He found that the domestic and sexual violence was a significant contributing factor in her crime, and he found that the new sentence range applied, which means that she already overserved the new maximum, which was 30 years,” Colleen McCarty, the founding executive director of the Oklahoma Appleseed Center for Law and Justice, said.

The judge resentenced Moss for time served. She walked out free to a crowd of tearful supporters and family.

“It was a little unexpected. It’s way overwhelming. I am overwhelmed right now, but I just want to thank God for everything that he’s done for making a way when there seemed to be no way and for my legal team. Without my legal team, I would not be able to be standing here today,” Moss said.

Last year, the state Legislature passed the Oklahoma Survivors’ Act, which gives leniency and the possibility for resentencing for domestic abuse survivors if they can prove their abuse played a major role in their crime.

Moss did just that.

“We were holding hands like it’s either going to go our way or it isn’t, and when he said it that she was getting resentenced, she broke down in sobbing tears,” McCarty said.

Now that she is free, she pledged to help other domestic violence survivors still fighting.

“Don’t give up. Trust God that there is a way. People believe them. They’re fighting for them on the other side. We are fighting for them on the other side and just don’t give up,” Moss said.

Her attorney told KOCO that this is a groundbreaking shift in the Oklahoma legal system. Her team at Appleseed Center for Law and Justice now has 17 other cases of domestic abuse survivors they are taking on.

Moss said she has a job waiting for her on the outside, but she is just excited to reconnect with her family.

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