The Georgia Supreme Court has reversed the murder conviction of Lisa Ann Lebis for her role in the death of Clayton County Police Officer Sean Callahan in December 2012.
Callahan was killed during a shootout with Lebis' husband, Tremaine Lebis at a Stockbridge motel.
On December 17, 2012, Lisa and Tremaine Lebis, who had been staying at a Motel 6 in Stockbridge, were evicted for late payment for their room. When she learned they were being evicted, Lisa - who was visibly intoxicated at the time - confronted the front desk clerk loudly, which resulted in the clerk contacting 911 for assistance.
The motel supervisor went to the room, and found Tremaine in the room with three dogs, along with a terrible stench coming from the room. When inquiring as to Lisa's whereabouts, Tremaine told the supervisor she had gone to secure more money to pay for the room.
The supervisor said the motel would not accept their funds and that they would have to leave.
Two officers - Callahan and Officer Waymondo Brown arrived, and thinking they may have criminal damage to property charges against the occupants in the room, approached Lisa and Tremaine, who were removing items from the room and stacking them outside.
Officer Brown asked Tremaine what was going on. Tremaine said there had been a misunderstanding between motel staff and Lisa. After entering the room, and finding evidence of damage, Officer Brown approached Tremaine, and noted that he had a pocket knife. As he tried to handcuff Tremaine, Lisa began to yell loudly. Tremaine escaped, running to the rear of the motel property.
The officers pursued on foot, with Callahan running ahead of Brown. As they rounded a corner, Tremaine shot at them, striking Callahan in the shoulder and neck. Brown returned fire, hitting Tremaine, who fell to the ground.
As Brown called for backup and began to administer CPR to Callahan, Lisa appeared from nowhere and was "going bonkers," according to Brown's testimony. She cursed at him, and flailed about. Brown said he could not see if she had a weapon. He then pointed his gun at her with one hand, while trying to maintain pressure on Callahan's gunshot wound with the other, yelling at her to show him her hands -- which she initially did not do.
When she finally stood up so he could see she was unarmed, he resumed CPR on Callahan -- later testifying he had lost about about 50 seconds dealing with her. When other officers arrived, Lisa was arrested. Callahan was transported to Grady Memorial Hospital in downtown Atlanta where he died 14 hours later. Tremaine died at the scene.
In May 2013, a grand jury indicted Lisa for being party to felony murder based on possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. She was also indicted for a number of other crimes, including obstruction of a law enforcement officer. Following a 2014 trial, she was convicted of all charges except disorderly conduct and felony theft by receiving stolen property.
Lisa was sentenced to life without parole plus 35 years in prison. She appealed to the Georgia Supreme Court.
The high court overturned the murder convictions and two of the misdemeanor obstruction charges, saying in Tuesday's opinion that significant evidence "connects Lebis to the weapons in the motel room."
But in terms of the murder of Officer Callahan, "the felony murder count against Lebis requires proof that she jointly possessed the murder weapon at the time of the murder. The State did not prove what it charged," the opinion said. “‘[A]t [the] given time’ that Tremaine shot Officer Callahan, the evidence shows that Tremaine, not Lebis, had actual and sole possession of the .357 caliber Glock that he pulled from the fanny pack he wore. Tremaine had left the motel room, and there is no evidence that Lebis had the intention or ability to exercise control over the weapon at that point.”
In addition, of the four misdemeanor counts of obstructing a police officer for which she was found guilty, the Supreme Court upheld two of them, but reversed the other two which alleged she obstructed Officers Brown and Callahan in their attempt to arrest Tremaine.
In terms of those two counts, "we agree that the evidence was insufficient to support those convictions."
There was no immediate word on exactly when Lebis' sentencing will be revisited.
