Appeal of Katrina car-theft case argued

• By ALLEN M. JOHNSON JR.
• Advocate New Orleans bureau
• Published: Dec 4, 2008 - Page: 11A - UPDATED: 12:05 a.m.

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NEW ORLEANS — The Louisiana Supreme Court waded through the legal flotsam of Hurricane Katrina on Tuesday, with prosecutors seeking to reinstate the conviction of a Marrero mother released from prison last year.

Karen M. Calloway, now 37, was serving a three-year sentence for possession of stolen things, when the 1st Circuit Court of Appeal overturned her conviction, freeing her.

Her only prior conviction was an old misdemeanor.

However, the Terrebonne Parish District Attorney’s Office told the state’s highest court that a jury did not err when it found Calloway guilty of buying a stolen car and truck from a stranger for $2,300.

Calloway then used both vehicles to drive her family out of chaotic, storm-damaged New Orleans area to her mother’s house in Houma.

Evacuees from Calloway’s storm-damaged house were her 10-year-old daughter, who suffers from asthma, her son, 17; her husband, Travis Williams; his sister — then pregnant with twins; and a 14-year-old neighbor who joined them the night before the storm, records show.

Calloway and her son, Demond Kentrell Calloway, 17, were arrested by Houma police two months later.

In January 2006, however, a Terrebonne Parish jury decided only the mother was responsible.

At trial, Karen Calloway testified that she didn’t think the vehicles were stolen. But Assistant District Attorney Barry Vice cited the “ridiculously low price” of $2,200 cash for both a 2004 Toyota Solara convertible and a 2003 Toyota Tundra pickup, and the lack of paperwork.

“There were no wires popped, the steering wheel was not popped and I had the keys,” Calloway testified, adding. “I didn’t really think about it because the levee was fixing to bust, and I figure he’s looking to make a deal on it — go ahead and get something on it, or let the water get it and get nothing.”

The Calloways said they tried to walk from their home to the Superdome, but were turned back, and bought the banged-up vehicles to escape post-storm violence.

On Wednesday, the justices heard that there was no evidence of flood damage to the vehicles, which were stolen from a West Bank dealership. The owners had left both vehicles at the dealership for repairs.

Calloway said she purchased the vehicles four days after Katrina.