First person retried and released from prison under Oklahoma Survivor’s Act

Photo Courtesy: Oklahoma Appleseed Center for Law & Justice

(SEMINOLE, Okla.) After serving 34 years of a life sentence without parole, Lisa Moss was released from Mabel Bassett Correctional Center on Wednesday, the first case to be retried under the Oklahoma Survivor’s Act (OSA) after it was passed last year. 

Moss, a survivor of both domestic violence and sexual violence, was convicted of Conspiracy to Commit Murder and First Degree Felony Murder in 1990. She was 25 years old at the time.

Her legal team applied for resentencing stating Moss was "a victim of extreme physical, sexual, and psychological abuse when she committed the instant offense,” an OSA requirement. 

According to court records, Moss's brother Richard Wright killed her husband to stop the abuse he was committing against her and her 5-year-old daughter. Moss was not present when he was killed.

Seminole County District Court Judge Steven Kessinger granted Moss immediate release with credit for time served under the Oklahoma Survivors’ Act following her retrial.   

Colleen McCarty, attorney and Executive Director of Oklahoma Appleseed for Law & Justice, served as lead counsel on the case.

"The Court’s decision demonstrates a commitment to justice and to the legislative intent of the Oklahoma Survivors’ Act, which is to provide a second chance for survivors who have suffered unimaginable trauma,” McCarty said. 

The Oklahoma Appleseed Center launched as a team of two in 2022 with the premiere of the podcast “Panic Button”, which highlighted the case of criminalized survivor April Wilkens.

Wilkens is currently serving a life sentence for killing her rapist and abuser. Her case was the first case filed under OSA back in September, but Wilkens is still waiting for her hearing. 

Wilkens' next closed discovery hearing is set for February 7.  

Since their launch, the Oklahoma Appleseed Center staff and advisory board has expanded to 20, and the Oklahoma Survivor Justice Coalition they started has grown to more than 20 partners.