Murder in the Orange Grove: The Troubled Case Against Crosley Green | Full Podcast + Episode | Forensic Files

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with a 48 Hours Plus subscription join 48 hours plus on Apple podcast today can you ask him to come
in he how you doing hey Crosley hey hey good to see you again it's great seeing you I told you I would be here soon this
wasn't quite as soon as I hoped just soon enough here I'm talking to Crosley green
Crosley is a 67-year-old africanamerican man he's fairly tall just under 6 ft with a lean build and delicate features
these days Crosley is mostly bald with a receding hairline that speckled with more salt than Pepper did you get
finally get a letter from me no see I kept I got one sent back I sent another at the time of this interview in June of
2024 we had been meeting like this for 25 years we sound like old friends catching up except instead of meeting in
coffee shops we meet in Florida state prisons why do I keep coming back because in my entire career as a
journalist and and I've been doing this now for 40 years this is the case that troubles me most it's a bizarre and
maddening tale that involves murder a timeline that doesn't quite add up a sister testifying against a brother
death row and even the US Supreme Court and at the heart of the story Crosley green a man who has lived more than half
his life behind bars for a crime he says he didn't commit yet even after all these years Crosley only asked for one
thing don't listen to him look into his case yourself you know are you going to believe me me telling you or you going
to go out there and try to find the truth out for yourself because I can tell you
things whether not you believe it or not it's up to you but to me for anything to be truthful that I
tell you you have to go out there and read it yourself get knowledge of it yourself I'm 48 Hours correspondent eron
morard this is murder in the Orange Grove the troubled case against Crosley Green episode 1 moonless
Night Sheriff's case number 89- 33497 to tell crosley's story we have to rewind the tapes all the way back to
1989 the date is April 4th 1989 time is approximately 8:20 a.m. back to a sheriff's office in Titusville
Florida the county seat of Bard County along Central Florida's Space Coast uh Kim for record would you please State
your full name and spell your last name please Kim suik h a l l o c k on the morning of April 4th
1989 police were interviewing 19-year-old Kim hoc about a trauma that began unfolding the night before one
that would forever change the lives of Kim her ex-boyfriend Charles chip Flynn and Crosley green you saw me swear the
statement you're about to give is true and correct to the best of your knowledge to help you out yes okay at
the time of this recording Kim had already been with investigators at the sheriff's office for 4 hours but this
was the first time they were recording her sworn statement uh let's start by uh what was the first time that you saw
the victim who is uh it was Charles Flynn we call you call him chip yes okay Kim HCK and Charles Flynn he went
by the name chip both lived in the city of Titus dville Kim was white with dark eyes and haircut above her shoulders
those who knew her described her as a fairly smart nice looking girl 22-year-old chip was also white with
Shaggy Sandy brown hair and a smile always on his face they dated a little over a year and a half but had broken up
about 2 months earlier Chipen moved on he had a new girlfriend and didn't talk about Kim anymore to his family or
friends but he hadn't fully cut ties with Kim either when was the first time that you saw chip yesterday which would
have been 43 of 89 about 10:00 at night he came over to my house Kim said that she and Chip watched a movie together
Pretty in Pink it was around 11:00 p.m. when he asked her if she wanted to go for a ride in his pickup truck it was a
82 ship relay Stepside 4x4 pickup truck what color dark blue chip had a manual transmission
truck a a stick shift there was only one row of seed so Kim sat on the passenger
side while chip drove to holder Park in the nearby town of Mims they parked the truck on the doomes by the baseball
field under some trees after about 15 minutes a patrol Deputy drove by but he didn't see the couple another few
minutes passed and Kim said she saw someone else walking towards them from the baseball fields it's after that a
black guy walked up in front of the truck Kim told the police that she and Chip were instantly unsettled by this
unknown man who she called quote unquote the black guy you'll hear Kim say this over and over again when speaking with
police I was looking up and then I looked down and I saw the black guy come up and I told Chip there's a black guy
on on your side and he rolled up the window real quick Kim said she was unnerved by the encounter and told Chip
she wanted to leave the park but chip said it was all right because the man had left Kim said that about 20 minutes
later chip got out of the truck to go to the bathroom and that's when she heard him say wait a minute hold on wait a
minute man and I just looked and I saw a black guy according to Kim's timeline the time would be between 11:30 and
midnight Kim said that she remembered that chip had a pistol in the glove box so she pulled it out and hid it under a
pair of jeans on the seat beside her and that's when the man she said told Chip to get on the
ground did you see that uh the black male was armed at that time yes I did as he was in front of the door okay she
said he asked how much money they had and started calling calling them names even calling him crack crackhead CRA
cracker head and me [ __ ] chips just said just let her go you have me there is salent said he would
let them go but first Kim said he threw one of Chip's sneakers at her and then told her to take the shoelace out she
said that while the asala was tying up Chip's arms with that shoelace his gum was went
off nobody was hurt and Kim told police that she didn't think the gunshot was intentional but on the moonless night it
would have been terrifying Kim said that at this point chip was on his knees no shoes on his
arms tied behind his back with a shoelace the as salent pulled Chip's wallet out of his pants
pocket and he opened up the wallet and then he threw me and told me to take out the money M and count it and
approximately how much money was in the wallet $185 okay the as salent allowed her to
get out of the truck himim said and then come around to where he and Chip were standing before instructing her to start
the truck what is he doing with the gun while he is instructing giving you the instructions he's got Chip he's holding
the gun on chip yeah then according to Kim all all three of them got back in the pickup truck on
that one row of seats chip is now in the passenger side with his hands tied Kim in the middle and they're now kidnappers
steering and shifting gears They begged him to let them go with chip once again offering himself up to save Kim Take Me
Do What if you want just let her go and he said he was going to but he I knew he
wasn't this might have been the best chance Kim how it got to really look at the as salant although it was still
pitch black and according to Kim the truck's interior light might not have been working the police officer
questioning Kim was eager to try to pin down a physical description of the as salant from his height how tall was he
between 58 and about 6 foot mhm and his weight about 108 lb mhm kind of a big Bill to his
clothing had a big heavy jacket on a dark heavy jacket remember possibly green a real dull
green blue jeans and big heavy boots like working boots to his hairstyle just afro and there nothing fancy nothing
weird was said thick long short just thick kind of long not long a little bit little bit of an ass
uhhuh but Kim was unable to provide a detailed description anything else unusual about
the face not really not I really didn't get a real good look at him I was really scared in her ter
Kim said she did not get a good look at the as salant another police officer prester about the man's Footwear again
later in the interview describing his Footwear are you certain of what type of Footwear he was wearing yes or
no not real Ser so the answer is no right okay could he have been wearing tennis
shoes that's possible isn't it yeah but it seemed like tennis shoes weren't heavy enough for what he was okay your
recollection in describing his Footwear is not based on something you visually saw and remember it's a sound you heard
Kim told B that the man made her and Chip duck down as they drove out of holder Park and when chip lifted his
head Kim said the asent yelled at him to put it down or he'd blow his head off okay what was he doing with the gun
at time he had it at me where where was he pointing it at my side mhm was he holding it there while he was shifting
too how was he how was he doing that he had he had his hand sh PR sure if you couldn't quite hear Kim said
that their kidnapper was holding the gun pointing it at her while shifting gears
and driving at this point chip found his own gun the one that Kim said she hid under a pair of jeans on the seat chip
motioned to Kim to scoot up so he could get a clear shot at their as salent but Kim said she couldn't move without the
driver noticing 10 minutes later the as salent stopped the truck at a familiar Landmark
the orange factory nevan's orange factory that's it mhm Kim and Chip were in an Orange Grove
in the city of Titusville Florida they ass salent she said shut the car off it was completely dark then he yanked him
out of the driver's seat by her arm Kim said she pulled free and then ran around
to the passenger side of the truck opening Chip's door and just as she put one foot inside the as salant yanked her
out again and she fell to the ground by the back rear tire the as salent got one
arm around her and held his gun on her my hand it was on my face okay Kim said that when she started to cry the as
salent shouted that he was going to quote blow her brain out if she didn't shut up and that's when according to Kim
chip leaned out of the passenger seat his pistol still clutched in his shoelace bound
hands his hands were behind his back he leaned out of the truck and somehow shot
at the guy and the guy steep back chipped him out of the truck I jumped in the truck shut the passenger door
then I reached over and locked it and I heard about five or six gunshots so if you're following Kim said that chip shot
at the As salant and then jumped out of the passenger side of the pickup truck all with his hands still tied behind his
back the police officer asked him exactly how chip got out of the truck no like face first on the ground onto
stomach mhm so I could get in and leave and then ask him about those other gunshots okay the other shots occurred
after you got into the truck after I got in the truck do you recall how many shots chip
fired I he might have shot two I'm not sure the second one went from Chip I'm not real sure but then like four or five
came from the black guy Kim said chip yelled at her to go and in her haste to leave the Orange Grove Kim said she
might have accidentally run over Chip's leg Kim drove for about 4 miles going past the gas station and even a local
hospital stopping at a trailer park where Chip's best friend David Stroop lived it was just about a minute away
from her family home David was asleep and didn't hear Kim when she banged on his trailer door so I went back to the
where his bedroom is and I beat on the door and I told him I think chip got shot
David strou and Chip Flynn had been best friends for close to 5 years meeting at
a party after Chip's family moved down from Illinois to Florida they enjoyed doing the same kinds of things and spent
many afternoons camping four-wheeling fishing David liked that chip was easygoing
without an enemy in the world he called him country a good old boy David had been with chip just hours earlier
watching a basketball game in David's trailer around 10:30 p.m. David had started nodding off on the couch hey man
I'm going to go to bed he told Chip Chip left and David just assumed he was going
home it was a work night after all when Kim banged on David's trailer it was around 1:00 a.m. in the morning David
got out of bed to let her inside she was hysterical and told him chip had been shot up to an hour had passed since Kim
had left the Orange Grove Kim doesn't explain in her police interview why the drive took so long David tried to get
Kim to tell him exactly what happened but after a minute of not getting anywhere he told her hey we got a call
911 the initial call was very ambiguous two men fighting in the road at an intersection in Mims at 1:13 a.m.
bravard County deputy sheriff Mark rxy got the dispatch call he was out on road Patrol in fact he was the police officer
who drove through holder Park a few hours earlier that night with when he arrived at the location given to him by
Dispatch he didn't see a disturbance called the dispatch back and said Bard there's nobody here can we get
you know more information dispatch relays a new location then they say well it's down
holder road so I drive down up and down holder Road and there's nothing there something
didn't seem right normally when somebody witnesses an incident it would not be such a drastic change of location
if I told you that an incident had occurred at the Hilton in Coco Beach it wouldn't turn out later that it
actually happened 2 or three miles down the road rexie even began to suspect that
the call was fake this is a prank because nobody could get it that wrong Sergeant Diane Clark was driving
in a separate patrol car and monitoring all the dispatch calls coming into Deputy rxy by this time dispatch was
telling him shots have been fired out in the Orange Grove while the Orange Groves
go from the north side of Titusville all the way to the county line and Beyond so
that didn't give us a lot of information and the the Orange Groves are there little dirt rows we would have
been tracking all night long trying to find him time was quickly passing so Clark met up with rexie and sent another
deputy to pick up Kim hoc they all headed to the Orange Grove so Kim could show them the exact location of the
disturbance but Kim refused to get out of the police car she says he's down this road a dirt road but she's afraid
to go down there well will go down there Mark and I F follow this dirt road or path it was so dark they couldn't see
their own hands in front of their faces so the officers had to use flashlights you know the kind of a night you get
where the stars are you think you can reach up and touch them they're so vibrant when there's no moon they're
even more vibrant but it's like pitch black out there it was a very in the middle of the woods in the
middle of the night it was very dark both officers walk cautiously down the dark path flashlights Illuminating their
way and while I'm walking I am noticing Tire prints in the dirt perfectly detailed Tire prints so you
can actually see the tread and at the end of the path was a figure lying face down in the dirt it was Chip
Flynn almost like a fetal position his hands tied behind his back with a Sho string kind of crossed over behind him
um he had a a bullet wound was blood on the right side of his chest um he didn't have any shoes on
Clark call for an ambulance while rexie moved quickly to free chip from the bindings on his hands he seemed very
cognant very um very alert not suffering from uh the effects of a gunshot there was a
gun on the ground just one a 22 caliber pistol and Chip was moaning alive and conscious we started asking him who did
this to you and all he said was get me out of here well could you at least tell us
which way he went because as far as we were concerned there was an arm as salent loose in The Orchards where we
were and it was a safety issue a big safety issue not only catching the suspect but a safety issue for us
because we're exposed get me out of here is all he would say chip wouldn't answer any of
their questions about his as salent I've never even heard of that happening before normally someone will say he went
that way it's this kind of guy but it quickly became clear that the more urgent priority was saving Chip's life
obviously he's injured he needs an am an ambulance it was a pool of blood under him Kim had called both her parents and
Chip's parents after calling 911 and now they were all waiting together about half a mile away from where chip lay in
the Orange Grove the police wouldn't let them any closer worried that an armed as
salant could still be lurking nearby down the dirt path Chip's condition took a turn for the worst you know all of a
sudden his breathing got shallow all of a sudden you know he he deteriorated really quickly chip stopped breathing
but he still had a pulse so Clark performed mouth-to-mouth resuscitation and I'm waiting for the
ambulance and it seems like forever when the am you know it just seems like when
you're it's life and death you feel like oh my God are they ever going to get here and they could hear them in the
distance the ambulance was close by waiting by the main road with Kim her parents Chip's parents and more police
that had arrived for backup but the police wouldn't let paramedics any closer still concerned that a man with a
gun could be waiting to attack back in the Grove Clark was able to resuscitate chip but then he stopped reading the
second time I did mou to mouth again brought him back chip had a sucking chest wound and when Clark saw it she
knew Chip's condition was far more critical than it first appeared you know every minute that ticks away with that
kind of a wound is closer to death it needed a cellophane dressing but she didn't have one only thing I had was a
handkerchief so I took that out covered it to keep the try to keep the air out and try to stop the bleeding chip
stopped breathing a third time when the ambulance finally arrived rescue Personnel sped him off to the hospital
but chip didn't make it that far uh Communications notified me around 220 or so that he had expired that he
had died uh we did everything we could to try to save him and you know it's like
that's my job and it was very hard to to not have been able to do more for him officer rxy questioned why it took
so long to nail down Chip's location in the first place if we had been able to locate him the very first
time the time lapse between the time we found him and the time we got the call would have been about 5 to 10 minutes
instead of 45 while Kim was transported to the Sheriff's Office for questioning officers Clark and rexie remained behind
to protect the scene until the crime scene unit arrived before Daybreak as they left the scene rexie noticed
something that had caught his eye the night before on the way out of the Orange Grove I followed the same path
that the truck left the orchard in and again I noticed that the tire prints were perfectly detailed
uh if you leave a Sandy area or a dirt area in a hurry you're going to have some Tire spin there's not going to be
perfectly detailed tire tracks and these were perfectly detailed like there was no big rush to to
[Music] leave by this point you're probably wondering what any of this has to do
with Crosley green or maybe you've already guessed I was in h Park that night we all go to holder Park I live
there I live right right behind the baseball field there yes that holder Park the one where Kim said quote a
black man robbed and then kidnapped her in chip before taking them to the Orange
Grove Crosley green is a self-described sports fanatic he was a star Athlete on the high school football team back in
the day and on the afternoon and early evening of April 3rd 1989 31-year-old Crosley green was in holder
Park watching a little league baseball game and after the baseball game he says he left the park hoping to catch a
college basketball game on TV possibly the same game that chip and David were watching in the trailer it was the NCAA
tournament championship game it was doing a playoff time I wanted to get back and watch the games Crosley says
that he left holder Park just as it was getting done dark sometime between 99: and 10: p.m. and walked to the house of
his cousin carlen Brothers which is uh approximately I would say mileage wise 3 or 4 miles Crosley
walked those miles in his white rebok tennis shoes I walked I walk but it I didn't go down
the roads okay you can go through the Orange Grove you know or cut instead of go all around the corner he cut across
the corners cutting through the Orange Grove yes that Orange Grove he got to caren's house a little after 1000 p.m.
he watched TV with her uh Hall was on I stayed there watch Hall at the time this
show was running at the time at night arcenio Halls show ran from 11:00 p.m. to midnight after watching the show for
a while Crosley says he went out to the road in front of caren's house he was selling drugs marijuana and cocaine at
the time even though he had just gotten out of prison on a drug charge the time that Crosley was out on the road selling
drugs differs depending on who you talk to caren's ex-boyfriend James K says Crosley was back inside the house at
12:40 a.m. James says he remembers because Crosley interrupted an argument that he was having with carlen there
dispute about what she was doing and stuff like this there another guy so they got a little argument little push
around James had let the air out of a tire on Carlene's car so she couldn't leave Crosley helped deescalate the
argument he wasn't the type of guy to normally get involved in other people's business but he says that when he saw
something wrong he'd intervene he told carlen and James you ought to work things out James said the three of them
then sat down and talked before Crosley walked to the house of another friend in
the neighborhood never went back to Holy Park the only other place I went to from
from Caren house was over to Lori rain house Lori Reigns had once been crosley's girlfriend and while they
weren't dating at the time he had known her for over 10 years and she was still a good friend I mean to me he's a very
very nice man I mean you know when me and him first got together my daughter was young and he really treated her very
nice I mean he treated me very nice I never had any problems with him you know I really honestly didn't he was a very
gentleman to me but here's where the stories about crosley's whereabouts differ Lori said that Crosley arrived at
her apartment in Mims on the night of April 3r around 11:00 p.m. the last time he came to my house was like 11 11:15
both Lori and Crosley say that he stayed at Lor's house for the rest of the night
we we basically didn't go to SLE till like about 1 1:30 something like that when we fell asleep Crosley green says
that he left Lor's house the next morning around 7 a.m. and then walked back past his cousin caren's house
carlen was outside dealing with that flat tire that James had given her the night before carlen called out to
Crosley by his nickname Papa let's hear from her he was walking over towards my way so I say papa I said come
change my tie said this boy flat my tie Crosley then changed her tire for her according to carlen Crosley was in his
usual good spirits a nice friendly move that move he always been very nice and friendly this was about 700 a.m. on
April 4th just a few miles away at a local County sheriff's office in Titusville Kim hoc was meeting with
police telling them about the black man that she said attacked her in chip Flynn
officer Mark rxy was filing his case report and Chip Flynn's parents were grieving the death of their youngest
son this is Agent demeris forvard County Sheriff's Office criminalistic unit we're at holder
park on the morning of April 4th 1989 hours after chipain's murder agent Debbie Demars arrived on scene at holder
Park shortly before Dawn it's the place where chip and his ex-girlfriend Kim HCK
sat and talked in his truck and where Kim says a black man approached the vehicle deamar recorded her observations
crime scene begins with what we believe to be suspect shoeprints that initiate at this
point holder Park is a popular well trampled site for local baseball games agent to Mars and the crime unit team
were there specifically looking at the tire tracks of Chin's truck along with shoeprints that they thought could
belong to the perpetrator agent dears assumed that the alleged attacker arrived at the park in
a vehicle and she tracks shoeprints heading in a West Direction up into the area between the trees which is where
the victim's vehicle was parked along with the two victims prior to the abduction but oddly dears also saw those
same suspect shoe prints exiting the area towards a baseball field not disappearing as they would if if the
wearer had gotten into a truck the shoe prints after proceeding West will then continue on around just to the outside
of this fence with the last shoe print being seen just north of the second cement
pole as agent dears continued her investigation local news crews descended on the scene about 200 yd down this road
is apparently where the murder occurred Sheriff's officials tell us all three got out of the truck and then both men
fired shots the next day April 5th the newspaper featured a photo of dear's helping another agent pull up a plaster
cast of a shoe print and just below that a police sketch of a black man the image
reflected the details that Kim H had given officers about the alleged as salent and now police were asking for
help as they search for a black male it didn't take long for people to start pointing fingers at Crosley green I
wanted a person who done it I wanted Justice done at all cost but what exactly was Justice 35
years ago in the small Florida communities of Titusville and Mims it's an area where racial lines have been
clearly drawn for Generations and where animus and fear still lived right below the
surface I'm 48 Hours correspondent eron morard this is murder in the Orange Grove the troubled case against Crosley
Green episode two rumors okay first thing I just want you to introduce yourself tell me your name
and how long you've lived in Titusville in Bard County uh my name is Timothy Lee Curtis
I've lived in Titusville basically my entire life and I'd like to say that's 26 years but it's a little longer I live in
Titusville 63 and a half years I've been interviewing Tim Curtis off and on for 25 years most recently in late spring of
2024 his family ran a local Body Shop entit Ville Florida for decades it's where Deputy sheriffs would bring in
their cars for service so Tim was privy to a lot of Gossip around town he's a friendly guy to have a beer with but
I've learned over the years there's more to him then he lets on how big a story was this how big a
case in town I was I mean it was there was a we were a small town back then I mean and
we have a a young guy that was allegedly murdered by a black guy so that was very
very heated in the community the town of Titusville sits smack dab in the middle
of Florida's East Coast it's part of the state that's also known as the Space Coast since it's home to Kennedy Space
Center Titusville is relatively small compared to nearby Orlando Mims an incorporated area of
bravard county is even smaller there's no High School in Mims the entire area is assigned to Astronaut High School in
Titusville and that means people know each other people like Tim Curtis did you know Kim helik at all
back then yes I I knew the hoc family very well and Tim became close friends with chip Flynn after selling him a
truck the same truck that chip was driving the night he was killed I think chip was just a young ambitious boy boy
like most of us were that had a whole life ahead of him um that you know was very excited when I sold him the truck
that he had this beautiful nice truck to drive around for a young guy that's you
know that's back back then it was cars trucks and girls Tim had also known Crosley green and his brother o' Conor
since they were teenagers and you were good friends with OK Conor weren't you yeah we I admired OK Conor we admired
okor because he was such a a phenomenal football player and I've known Crosley many many years I mean he liked to run
smack from his mouth you know he he was a type of guy that would probably steal your lawnmower if you were setting on it
and you not know it was stolen that in particular day of the of the crime um I ran into Crossley cuz I used
to jog and I ran by his house and me and him exchanged some words no heated words
we would just his dog had run out after me and I had said some things don't let your dog bite me it ain't going to end
well kind of thing but and what did Crosley say back um he may have said something like you know and if I
remember correctly he used the word cracker cracker don't don't you hurt my dog cracker now or so you know that then
then I'll use some words back at him as to you know you better get your dog Crosley Tim had told me something
similar when I first spoke with him in 1999 um they said that the guy who done this
was using the word cracker a lot and I think that there alone to be honest with you stuck with me it stuck with Tim and
would further convince him that Crosley was a prime suspect in Chip's murder when police released a composite sketch
of the alleged as salent Tim posted it on the wall of his shop and some of the rumor had already been that that you
know they're looking for Crosley that crosley's one of the suspects oh Conor green saw the sketch posted in Tim's
shop I remember having some words about it and I said you know that looks like Crosley like just to see his response
and he was very you know outspoken going you know BS Timmy you know damn good and
well that don't look like my brother and I was trying to maybe like prime a little bit you know cuz In fairness I
like chip I'm the one that sold chip to truck you know I was very you know very concerned and I was definitely wanting
whoever did this to be brought to Justice you know so I was to be honest with you I was out to help any way I
could and so Tim Curtis decided to go to the police with a tip one that involved
a story that he had heard about Crosley green a story that had been pass along from this man no my name is Kerwin heer
Kerwin heern new ch Flynn Tim Curtis and Crosley green who was known around town
as Papa I spoke to Kerwin in 1999 we sat on a weathered picnic table in the front yard of the house where he
lived with his parents it was an early evening rumor control had it that he did it rumor control rumor control what does
that mean uh just gossip in the street I guess she would call it the morning after the murder April 4th keran was at
work cutting grass near the Orange Grove the area was roped off and full of police activity Kerwin said that later
that day two of Chip's relatives asked if he had any information about who killed chip and uh we got to talk and so
he said hey kin do you did you hear anything and of course I just you know and I told him rumor has it that such
and such took place you know and naming uh Papa green so you told him there was a rumor rumor that Papa green had done
it rumor rumor and I want to emphasize rumor I mean it wasn't it wasn't nothing that I knew for a fact or I don't think
anybody else knew as for a fact it was just rumor control and I guess the rumor started
because basically the police Poli was looking for him to question him concerning the
murder and I I'm assuming that's how the the rumor got started that evening two investigators showed up at kerwin's
doorstep and said hey you know kin we need to talk to you and I was like for what uh concerning Papa green do you
know him yeah I know um well we need you to we we want to talk to you concerning
him about about this uh murder you heard about I don't know nothing about it but
they insisted that I go with them to talk to them and discuss this concerning Papa in this murder case wait a minute
so you told these investigators clearly you knew nothing about nothing about and
they still asked you to come in to where Sheriff's Department exactly Kerwin had
been on probation at the time of Chip's murder and had not been following the probation requirements so when the
interview began did you feel pressured to give them something did you feel you had to well let me ask you a
question considering the fact that I was on probation I wasn't following the probation to the letter
t uh I mean you make the call you felt pressure yeah I mean yeah I read some of kerwin's statements
to the police back to him specific Al where he recounted something that he had heard from o Conor green look here um in
your statement and this is a tape statement right it says let's see um I Heard OK Conor talking about it you
know only thing I really heard was the fact that you know his brother was a dumb F for doing it this and that more
or less that kind of thing I was this you talking no you n and and and here you go what I'm
saying is I think they kind of take what I'm trying to say out of context and trying to say that I said that Okana
said that his brother make kill that person but what I'm saying is Papa wasn't willing to turn himself
in you understand what I'm saying he he wasn't willing to turn himself in and and his brother would saying hey you
being a dumb F for not doing it because you need to do it and just just go on and face up to it but why if this if
Papa green didn't commit this murder why was the big concern about him turning himself in well you think about it now I
mean it's and I'm going to make a hard statement here and and I don't want to offend nobody here cuz I'm the only one
here of color it's you know mean it's hard as a black person okay you being accused of committing a murder killing a
white person okay your best bet is just go and turn yourself in because I mean I mean reality is if you
you sit there and running around on the street you you subject get shot by a carop
period I mean that's pretty ugly and hard to say but that's reality that's that's America I showed Kerwin a copy of
the police composite sketch that was made from Kim H's description of the alleged as salent the morning after the
shooting on April 4th 1989 does this look like crossed green no it don't at all no it don't why not
what's why doesn't this look like crossle green first of all he got too much hair all right the nose too big
lips too big his Chin's not made up like his face is too fat that's not pop not at
all and I know darn well I could have been zooed out of my mind I would have never said that was pop because they
don't look nothing like him but regardless of Kerwin he's denials here it's safe to say that he had been
part of the rumor bill that Crosley green was involved in killing chip Flynn that rumor would jump to Chip's
relatives who would then pass that information on to Tim Curtis but instead of it being called just a rumor the
rumor became fact Crosley green had killed chip Flynn Tim who had called the police on April 5th with that
information just added fuel to the fire on the evening of April 5th Kim H returned to the Sheriff's Office with
her father to view a photo lineup of six black men when asked to identify the man
she claimed robbed and kidnapped her and then killed chip she pointed to a photo
that was darker than any of the others it was Crosley green Crosley green and his family had
been in the local news on and off for years since he was a young child it was Christmas
1966 when a fire destroyed his family's home in Mims a kerosene heater had exploded luckily everyone was able to
escape an Orlando newspaper reported that the family lost all of their possessions and the community rallied to
help the family the green siblings were always close 11 of them in total Crosley
was the third oldest I sat down with three of them in 20120 my name is Shirley White and
Crosby green is my brother and just out of curiosity where are you in the family
I am the oldest my name is ok caror green and I'm Crosley little brother my name is deer green and I'm
Crosley sister I'm the third oldest sister and where from Crosley you don't have to worry five I'm
the fifth D how would you describe your brother Papa was kind playful with me he was smart shirely told me the origin
of crosley's nickname Papa it just was a name that we just picked out when he was
a little boy and everybody felt in love with it and very few people called him Crosby
cuz everybody know him as Papa and oh Conor but there was a reason I mean he that he was called Papa wasn't
it I mean it fit him yeah he would though he was the favorite boy in the family when it came to dad and son
relationship you know you know dad always called him Papa too their father Booker T green was a truck driver for a
MIM Citrus firm and growing up in Mims you know my dad was the only one worked my mom most
stayed home and helped us in school and everything kept kept the food cooked kept everything cleaned up around the
house and everything and while Booker was working Crosley took on a fatherly role in the
family even towards his older sister Shirley and he would talk to me like a father because my father he was so busy
working even though we know he he loved at us but he didn't have the time to just show us and talk to us proba was
like he was that father and when he say something you would just look at him and and you took
heat to what he said he said don't do it you don't do it he put a he played a big part in my
life even though I was the oldest he played a very very special part in my heart Crosley played football in high
school but according to Crosley he dropped out to spend more time working with his father he really looked out for
the family and he looked out for the people were not even not people that he didn't even know you know he spent a lot
of time helping people do things if you needed any kind of help and he was around you know he always gave him gave
you a hand but there was also an intensely Dark Side to their family life the green children grew up poor and they
were victims of domestic VI Ence all of which culminated in their parents' horrific murder suicide in
1977 shortly after their parents separated Booker T green shot their mother constant twice before shooting
himself Crosley was 19 at the time ' Conor was 17 and this is when Crosley truly became
Papa of the family besides his two older sisters Shirley and Tina most of the green siblings were miners Crosley also
had a son schuma who was 2 years old it was really really hard and my brother just like stood
up as the Big Brother of the of our family you know and I'm the little brother and I go to
him a lot to help me do a lot of things that I didn't know how to do my dad taught him he taught
me his siblings said that Crosley had actually already taken on a more protective role in the family before
their parents' deaths due to the abuse they had suffered at home as children but that turbulent home
environment took a toll on Crosley and his siblings there were Runnings with police yeah how would you describe the
Green family reputation not very good that's Kerwin heern again it wasn't a good family last name to
have at that time the family was you know pretty deep in uh the drug scene and stuff like that no I I feel
that the cops wanted all of them off the street this place has always been pretty
well a drug infested area area since like the weed the mid 70s and 80s and then this crack stuff took off
right you didn't see police out here until you saw till you start seeing white females and white Mal start coming
through that place up there on that corner then all of a sudden now we got a problem and when you say whites coming
here to buy drugs well yeah yeah yeah but before that there was no problem see it was no problem long as you know
black selling the black ain't no problem but once the Caucasians start coming in
now we got a problem several weeks before chip fim was killed Crosley had been released
from prison after serving time on a drug charge and that wasn't the first time he
had been in trouble his legal problems had started many years earlier when he was a teen Crosley had previously been
charged with robbery when he was 17 he also pleaded guilty to another robbery in Upstate New York but because he was
18 he was categorized as a youthful offender and his conviction was vacated it would not count towards his
record over the years his brother OK Conor had also done time in prison relating to theft and burglary while
authorities would deny it ' Conor thought that after Chip's murder crosy and his family became targets they tried
to get me to come down to the Titusville no the sheriff department so I went I went down there and I can't think
of the officer who was asking me all these questions and stuff where you were just just just date um did you
see Crosley that date you know they just wanted to know my whereabout where I was told to hold hold
towards that night they want to know where I was and they finally backed up off me
well cuz you had an alibi didn't you yeah they backed up off me and left me alone oh Conor's Alibi was airtight he
was at a bar with over 60 people at the time of the murder when do you think that if you didn't have an alibi it
could be you sitting in prison yeah I think there was a desire to just take you off the
streets the the way it looked like it yes that's what it really looked like seemed like to me you know they didn't
care who it was as long as they got somebody that's all they were looking for [Music]
when did you find out you were a suspect when did I find out I was suspect M um maybe a day or two days after that was
the main suspect and what was your reaction what was my reaction to that was that here I go
again here I go again as you've already heard Crosley was no stranger to run in with the law and yet he had never been
convicted of a violent crime but why would people in your neighborhood I mean you grew up in Ms think you could do
something like this for number one it ain't what they think is what they have been told from
what one person been told then he takes it to another person and another person takes it to another person and in that
change everything get turned to around one day into the investigation things were not looking good for Crosley
green Crosley had been in holder Park he had gone to a baseball game earlier on the night of the killing a former
classmate of crosley's told police that he had been at the same game and said Crosley had been wearing a plain green
army jacket which matched Kim's initial description to police of what her alleged as salent had
worn hours after the shooting a canine unit sniffed shoe prints in holder Park and reported that the dog attracted
Ascent to a nearby intersection right next to a house that belonged to one of crosley's sisters
Tina Tim Curtis told police that he had seen Crosley at Tina's house when he was
jogging that afternoon Tim also told investigators that he thought the police sketch did in fact looked like Crosley
green after Kim H pointed to Crosley in a photo lineup police secured a warrant for his
arrest crosley's name and photo were released in news reports on April 7th 1989 as the suspect in chip Flynn's
murder the same day as Chip's funeral but before police could arrest Crosley he left the state kicking off a awide
search but did you know the police were looking for you of course of course what
I supposed to do turn yourself in oh no oh no oh no I don't get along with them people
down there my family don't get along with the law enforcements down there we have had
run-ins leaving the area certainly made Crosley green look guilty 2 months later
an Anon caller tipped off police that Crosley had returned to Bard County and Crosley was arrested on june8 a little
over two months after Chip's death 1989 this reporting is taking place in the uh Sheriff's uh homicide Squad
offices in Parkway Florida qualify just for the record would you state your full name and spell
your last name please green D okay this is crosley's original police interview it's an archival recording
from 1989 Crosley is sometimes difficult to understand and there are background noises later that sound like
tapping youve been a hard fell to find how about yeah they read Crosley his Miranda writes all right Mr Green this
reads as follows I crley Al Ander green have been advised and have had explained
to me my constitutional rights as follows okay and they are number one I have the right to remain silent do you
understand that and the charges um you're accused of um Robin two white kids a boy and a girl
up behind your sister Tina's house at holder Park as you know and um uh tying this young man up and driving his truck
on up to the Grove in Mim and uh taking a girl out of the truck and as you know she sort of struggled a little bit and
um tried to run away from you ran around the tailgate of the uh the truck in fact
um and then he got out shooting and you know what we don't understand all along he had the gun even though his hands
were tied uh he couldn't shoot at you because she was sitting between the two of you as you know and uh when the
shooting start she got in the truck and put the hall ass on it and of course he shows up dead and um you're accused of
doing that listening to the recording I'm struck by how often the officer describes the crime and then adds as you
know speaking as if he was sure Crosley was guilty but as far as Crosley was concerned this had nothing to do with
him I mean you know let's get something straight you know all right who yall looking for I don't know
MH I didn't do it and I'm say I a do nothing it's hard to hear clearly but Crosley was insisting I didn't do it I'm
saying I didn't do nothing but at this point things were not looking good for Crosley everything
seemed to be aligning against him perhaps a little too perfectly but upon closer examination of
the evidence a different picture was emerging the question was whether this New Perspective would come to light at
trial on the next episode of Murder in the Orange Grove the troubled case against Crosley green I I believed
Crosley green I said there's no jury in the world that's going to convict him based
on these facts he wasn't a nervous person he just kind of sat there and and he looked down and
he looked over and he would look at the ones that were up on the stand and then he would look down Alma Jean Bloss was
inside the courtroom on a Hot August morning in 1990 when Crosley green went on trial for the murder of Chip Fenn she
was one of the 12 jurors who would decide his fate she spent a lot of time watching him to me didn't appear nervous
and that was another thing that made me think maybe he thought he was getting off because they couldn't never be able
to prove that he actually did it now if he would have done it to me he would have been a nervous wreck knowing he was
going to be convicted I don't know it was touchy situation Alma Jean Bloss was right Crosley green wasn't worried he
later told me but not for the reasons Alma Jee loss imagined why should I feel nervous about something that I know
nothing about yeah you're on trial for it people are saying You Killed Someone I mean you're not going to be nervous
about that in a trial listen if I did something I'll be petrified if I did something like that
okay but if I ain't did nothing why should I be nervous why you you give me one reason to tell me why should I be
nervous for for a crime I didn't commit I I believed Crosley green Rob Parker defended Crosley Green in court I said
there's no jury in the world that's going to convict him based on these facts and Parker needed to be right
because what was at stake at this trial Crosley Green's life I'm 48 Hours correspondent eron
morard this is murder in the Orange Grove the troubled case against Crosley green
episode 3 The Trial well uh my name is Chris White I was an assistant State Attorney here in
the 18th judicial circuit here in Bard County Florida and I handled almost exclusively murder cases in 1990 Chris
White was one of two prosecutors who tried Crosley green for the murder of Chip Flynn the other was assistant State
Attorney Phil Williams white later told me that he had specifically asked his boss to be part of the team the reason I
did was because it occurred at holder Park in part uh and holder Park is where my two kids were playing baseball so I
had a kind of special interest in seeing that the case was handled and that it was handled well Crosley knew Chris
White fact he had a long Rocky history both with white and the judge handling the trial John antune II and it wasn't
just Crosley who had had past run-ins with the law his younger sister Sheila and brother OK Conor had been convicted
of Distributing cocaine and both were behind bars at the time of the trial Crosley described a kind of them against
us mentality that ran in his family me and my family had a lot of trouble with them but yet still we stick together and
that caused a confusion with them they don't they can't understand why we going to protect each other we always sticking
up for each other we take care of each other and ain't no way you going to break us apart on crosley's side Rob
Parker Crosley couldn't afford an attorney so Rob Parker was appointed by the court Parker had been a lawyer in
private practice for 3 years after spending four years years in the state attorney's office but this was Parker's
first capital murder case he could have asked for co-counsel but he didn't he was so confident in himself and the
evidence do you believe Crosley green killed chiplin it's possible but it's not probable based on the evidence that
we have jury selection began at 9:00 a.m. on Monday August 27th 199 inside The Bard County Courthouse in
Melbourne Florida Crosley and I sat there together and picked that jury uh so uh not that Crosley has any
experience in picking a jury but he was able to see the folks and and we did the
best we could with with what we had at that time at least that that's my opinion and that's how 53-year-old
Garder and grandmother Alma Jean Bloss became one of those jurors she had never served before and she took that
responsibility very seriously what did you know about the case before you actually sat on the jury did you know
anything about it no I didn't know a thing I didn't know a thing I didn't know what to expect when I went there
were you nervous about doing it uh yes I was at first yes why well because it was to do with the
blacks and the whites and that many years ago it was kind of touchy and you know it's I love them all equal it's
doesn't make any difference what color and to have allh jury it's not fair that's way I look at it Alma is white
and so is the rest of the jury Three Men and nine women there's this jury I don't
care what their makeup was was going to have a reasonable doubt regarding his Guild Parker is white too so were both
the prosecutors and the judge Crosley Green's trial began on Tuesday Morning August 28th around 10:00 a.m. there's no
audio from this trial but we do have thousands of pages of Court transcripts in his opening statement
prosecutor Chris White gave the jurors an overview of the case using the same metaphor that prosecutors often use he
told them that the evidence would come to them in pieces over the course of the trial and asked them to think about the
front cover of a jigsaw puzzle box white said quote when you sit down at a table and dump all the pieces out the
first thing you have to do is look at the front of the box and figure out where all those pieces are supposed to
fit defense attorney Parker also talked to the jurors about evidence but he said
that evidence would show that Kim H didn't know who committed the crime Parker then told the jurors that the
trial was about two tragedies the first tragedy being the loss of Mr Flynn the second being my client being hauled into
court charged with the most serious crime known to civilized society Crosley Green's trial lasted 6
days the jury heard from over 30 Witnesses but we're going to focus here on the key testimonies that addressed
crucial evidence used against Crosley including shoe prints bullet fragments fingerprints and dog tracking the very
first witness on day one of the trial was agent Debbie dears from The Bard County Sheriff's Office criminalistics
unit she was the crime scene technician who recorded the walkthrough at holder Park just hours after chipain's murder
and what is believed to be the suspect shoe print is found throughout this area prosecutor White had already told the
jury in his opening statement that investigator were never able to recover any shoes that matched those shoe prints
only that they were tennis shoes while questioning agent dears white showed a diagram of the shoe prints which showed
them trailing through holder Park and then abruptly ending where chip fn's truck was parked here's what white told
me later about that evidence they are there at the crime scene and they were leading into the crime scene to the
truck it was a damning piece of evidence because white was implying that the person wearing those shoes must have
left in Chip's truck Parker asked agent Demars if she found any shoeprints leading back towards the Roe where they
came from dear said no also testifying on the first day of the trial was Bard County deputy sheriff Mark rxy he was
one of the first officers to respond to the Orange Grove along with Sergeant Diane Clark rxy testified that he and
Sergeant Clark found chip conscious in the Orange Grove with his hands tied together behind his back with shoelaces
and that he found a 22 caliber revolver at the scene about 4 feet away from Chip
later in the trial the defense cross-examined the forensic firearm expert about the fragment of the bullet
found in chip Lin's body here's how defense attorney Rob Parker described that test testimony they found one uh
fragment of a projectile and as I recall it struck I think it struck chip in the upper chest
and traveled down and back it was just a fragment after all but the forensic expert testified that it appeared to
been shot specifically from a revolver not an automatic gun like Kim had initially told the police the as salent
used to shoot chip the only weapon found at the scene was Chip's gun a revolver and um of course my point was how do you
know that this fragment that you found in chip really didn't come from Chip's gun the experts said yes the bullet
found in chip could have been fired from Chip's own gun another expert who took the stand was the crime scene unit
investigator who evaluated the fingerprint evidence on Chip's truck he testified that the only identifiable
Prince belonged to Kim hoc no prints match Crosley green none on the outside of the car none on the steering wheel or
the gear shift this was key for juror Alma Jean Bloss when you don't find fingerprints that was my biggest thing
was the fingerprints no fingerprints when he drove a truck and no gloves mentioned did he have gloves on did he
put his socks on his hands but when I spoke to prosecutor white he said this fact never concerned him let me explain
why I did okay number one I know that fingerprints aren't always left if they were my conviction rate would be higher
okay number two Kim was in that truck she climbed in that truck to get away she drove that truck she touched all the
places where Crosley green would have touched she could have smudged every single print that he left or it may be
that his hands weren't placed on those places in such a way that it could leave a good print he may have moved his
fingers around everything he touched I don't know later in the trial the prosecutors questioned the police dog
handler he and his dog were called to holder Park early on the morning after the murder to try to find and track a
fresh scent from the crime scene they ran a dog track from the what they believe was the defendant sent along the
track of the the uh tennis shoe prints the defense objected to the testimony and the jury was asked to leave the
courtroom Parker argued to the judge that the witness was not qualified as an expert in dog handling and more
importantly that the state could not prove that the dog was actually following the sen of the person who left
those shoe Prints but the judge allowed the testimony in and the trial resumed under Chris White's questioning the dog
handler shared that his dog picked up a sent at the crime scene and followed the
shoeprints out of the park for about 2/10 of a mile until they disappeared at the edge of the pavement they continued
to track the sand along the road following it all the way to the house of Crosley Green's sister Tina who lived
just about a half mile from holder Park but perhaps the most important witness called by the prosecution was
none other than Kim hoc herself she was a very nervous person on the stand juror
Amma Jean Bloss remembered Kim's demeanor she chewed gum constantly and real loud like you know and it was uh
she was very jittery she couldn't really look at the courtroom she's looking at the floor Kim's testimony began on the
first day of the trial and lasted into the second White's colleague Phil Williams asked himim about identifying
her as salent on a photo lineup at the Sheriff's Department that identification was one of the most
damaging pieces of evidence at trial you know that's potent potent evidence potent stuff in a pre-trial hearing
Parker had tried and failed to keep Kim's identification of Crosley in that photo lineup out of the trial because
crosley's photo had been darker than the five other men the photographic lineup the procedure was was an necessarily
suggestive technique which would result in a substantial likelihood of in court misidentification I later asked white if
he agreed that that photo lineup was suggestive I I think there's an argument that it is but I think there's also an
argument that she looked at it and she what would she necessarily think that they're trying to point me to the
darkest one maybe they're trying to point her to the lightest one um you know you're you're again there's a deal
of speculation that goes into what effect that had the prosecution asked kimik if she could look around the
courtroom and see the person who pulled the gun on chip took them in the truck tied chip up and shot him Kim said yes
and then pointed directly at Crosley as you can imagine it was a dramatic moment Parker then had to
cross-examine Kim but he knew he'd have to tread carefully well you know anytime
you have young woman who has suffered through this kind of a nightmare you want to be very careful with that but he
also picked up on something in that particular moment Kim was responding to a question about seeing the black male
with a gun shooting chip when she was interviewed by police she had said she only heard the shots that was news that
came out for the first time and we pointed that out first time you ever told anybody that was now in front of
this jury Parker pushed Kim a bit he asked her you didn't see anything you just heard shots didn't you she
responded that she saw a black male standing there with a gun but admitted she didn't tell that to the
police for Parker creating doubt around Kim's identification of Crosley as the as salent was crucial he wanted to
create Reasonable Doubt in the mind of the jurors uh it was pitch dark there was a canopy of trees over the area
where uh this allegedly occurred Parker asked Kim if she saw what the man looked
like when he first approached the vehicle she said no he then asked if she got a good look at the man when they
left holder park for the Orange Grove she replied that her head was down most of the time and when asked if she had a
chance to look at his face in the Orange Grove she said she didn't never seen the person before but for the
photographic lineup but when we get to the courtroom she says that's him uh but still as far as description goes can't
really describe this person can't remember what her description was can't remember what she told the police here's
what jur Alma Jean Bloss thought every answer was I don't know I don't know or she just didn't know she couldn't answer
the questions that was asked her she didn't know in fact Kim said the phrase I'm not sure close to 50 times
while she was being questioned by Parker she also had changed her description of
the suspect's hair when talking to police that first time she described it quote thick kind of long afro at trial
she testified that the man's hair was styled with gel and that it came down to a little over the year actually she she
called him ring ringlets and they and and her description was she take her finger and she'd run them down so I
envisioned this kind of longer hair with ringlets to me it was this unique hairstyle and she was very clear about
that very clear about it and in fact then what did croset green look like at that time well as you know he had just
gotten out of prison he had a buzz cut um he had very short hair all the witnesses who saw him at holder Park
said had a buzz cut when I spoke to White about that inconsistency he was dismissed
might they lie about his hair if it would help him do you think all of this friends said everybody
else you interviewed every witness said he had short crop tears I don't know that we uh actually interviewed
everybody Parker also asked Kim H why she didn't seek help for chiplin by going to a nearby house or even the
local hospital after leaving the Orange Grove remember Kim claimed she drove Direct to David stroop's trailer after
fleeing the Orange Grove his trailer was 4 miles away she's from this area she knows where the hospital is she knows
that there's probably a police officer there because generally they have security there uh at the hospital um if
not a police officer armed security officer she doesn't go to the hospital and my answer to that is you know what
should I make of that and I have handled many cases where people have been victimized some some of them uh were
present when other people were killed or when robberies happened or maybe they were just raped or and beaten or
whatever those people don't always act very rationally when all of that is said and done I can't hold her to the
standard that the defense team here wants to hold her to that they should have done she should have done
everything the exact way they think is most logical I I refuse to hold her to that standard I'm sorry according to
Kim's testimony at trial she said it only took her a couple of minutes to drive to David's trailer but according
to her police tape statement the time between when she left the Grove and called
911 meant that the drive actually took her up to an hour it's an inexplicable chunk of missing time and it was crucial
time for Chip he was laying there dying every moment counted but at trial Rob Parker did not question Kim about this
time discrepancy Parker did ask him some intimate details whether she was in love
with chip she said yes she also acknowledged that they had been sexually involved Parker then asked if Kim was
aware that chip had been sexually involved with another woman named Patty lney Kim said she didn't know for sure
but admitted that she and Chip did discuss his relationship with Patty that evening at holder Park when Parker then
asked if it made her angry that chip was having a sexual relationship with Patty
she replied that it made her upset looking at the facts and circumstances that we had I wanted to suggest that to
the jury that Hey listen here's a situation where chip and her had dated they had been uh sexually involved there
was a break up chip was seeing someone new and uh kind of out of the blue he drives by and he in Kim go parking and I
thought it was I thought the jury needed to understand that that was a fact they
should consider Rob Parker also got Kim to admit something she had previously denied to police that she and Chip
smoked marijuana that night in holder park there was clothing from the truck that was strewn out in the uh in the
area where this event occurred in the Orange Grove um brush was p added down and matted down um what did that suggest
to you suggested to me that they might have been out uh Making Love on the ground or or something along those
lines the fact that Kim and Chip had been somewhat at odds that night that chip could have been shot with his own
gun and that missing chunk of time didn't quite fit inside the jigsaw puzzle that prosecutor white described
in his open opening statement there were some missing pieces some pieces forced into place and that might have tipped
the scale in crosley's favor but the state was not yet finished calling Witnesses and one big puzzle piece was
about to be revealed your sister comes in and says you told her that you did it oh yeah well yeah
so what was the evidence that convinced the jury well his sister testified against him and she came in with
shackles and uniform and it was sad and she had four children that's juror Alma Jean Bloss again she's talking about the
most shocking moment of the trial when on the second day of the state's case crosley's sister Sheila appeared in
court to testify against him I remember that she kind of turned she couldn't look at him crosley's older
sister Shirley was also in the courtroom watching how difficult was that it was very difficult the church told
me that if I look at her and roll my eyes they going to take me out the courtroom because Sheila was
afraid of me and they kept her back in the room I just want to make sure you heard that
shirely said that she was warned that if she rolled her eye at her sister they were going to take her out of the
courtroom would she look at you at all when she was testifying she hold her head down every time I try to sit so I
can see her and look her in the face and ask her why at the start of this episode we
heard from Crosley that nothing could break his family apart remember so why would his younger sister Sheila turn on
her flesh and blood well Alma mentioned the shackles Sheila was incarcerated and facing serious
prison time for drug charges well one of my charges carried 10 to life and the other one
carried 5 to 40 years but the overall of the sagittary um guidelines it was 97 to
121 months my God for drug charges yes did they promise you anything if you testified against your brother yeah
supposed to got a lighter sentence but what exactly did you say in court you testified against your brother in court
what did you say if I'm not mistaken I think I said I seen him I asked him did he do it and he
said yes and I cried or something to that effect I I can't remember when the prosecution questioned Sheila she
testified that she saw Crosley the day after the shooting at their sister Tina's house
she said she asked him about the rumor that he had killed chip Flynn and that at first Crosley denied it but then she
says he admitted that quote he didn't intentionally make it happen that way Sheila said that Crosley referred to
chip as the dude and said that the dude pulled a gun on him and motion for the female passenger to run for help and
that the two men struggled over the gun Sheila said that Crosley then told her that it was either going to be him or
chip Sheila told the jury quote I wanted to cry and say no papa but said that her
brother told her he'd be all right what did that feel like on the stand I felt horrible up until this point defense
attorney Parker thought the trial was going pretty well for his client but it was undeniable that crosley's sister's
testimony was a major hit to his case some plea deal discussions had taken place before trial but after Sheila's
testimony an official plea deal was offered Crosley was looking at 10 years in prison if he plag guilty so I've now
gotten him into a position where he does not have to face the electric chair he does not have to face the rest of his
life in prison I'm feeling pretty good you recommend him to take it well we talked about it and talked about it and
talked about it and um he said I didn't do it I okay so he turned it down turned
it down why should I take it why didn't you why didn't it listen I didn't kill that young man okay I'm telling you I
keep telling you I didn't kill that young man so why should I take that plate bargain why should I but the damaging
evidence wasn't over the state didn't just want Sheila to testify they wanted me to convince Lonnie Hillary my he was
my fiance at the time they wanted me to convince him to also testify because they felt that he would listen to me
Sheila's fiance Lonnie Hillary took the stand after Sheila he told the court that sometime on the morning following
the shooting he noticed that Crosley wasn't acting like himself that he looked shaky and scared Lonnie
testified that Crosley told him quote I up man I fed up Lonnie also told the jury that Crosley told him a man and
woman wanted to buy something from him and that he got in their truck and rode off with them he said that Crosley told
him quote they hustled for a bit and the woman took off according to Lonnie that's when Crosley said he fed up the
prosecution also asked Lonnie about crosley's clothes Lonnie said he was wearing blue jeans and looked scuffed up
like he had been in the dirt Lonnie went on to say that later in the week Crosley
told him that he got rid of the clothes and that everything was going to be all right these Witnesses against Crosley
were incredibly damning even though the jury was also told that Sheila was promised a more lenient sentence if she
testified fight against her brother and that she convinced her fiance to do the same it hurt for to hear a sister and
brother one testify against the other I asked Parker about how reliable this kind of testimony can be isn't that a
very strong incentive for that witness to lie oh absolutely to save herself absolutely no question about it do you
think that happened in that case um I think that is something you have to explore as a defense lawyer anytime that
happens and I think I pointed that out to the jury and they just didn't believe that they believe that she wouldn't say
that against her own brother to avoid a federal prison sentence I took a look at
some of the local papers from the time and realized that Sheila testified against Crosley on that Wednesday August
29 and then on Thursday August 30th testified against her other brother o Conor green at his sentencing hearing
all before she faced sentencing about a month later on September 24th that's three of the green siblings
facing the court system in 1 month time that stands out to me but nothing about that situation surprised Crosley
that's a thing that's been used in the system for so long they bringing family testify against family
friends test get friends but on false statements okay and that's wrong and that's
wrong that's very wrong someone else who came forward as a state witness was Alan Jerome Murray he
told the court that soon after the shooting a group of about 20 to 30 men were talking on the corner in Mims
referred to as 21 Jump Street Allan said was there and told them that he had just
killed a man and that he was going to quote disappear but Allan also admitted on the
stand that he was under the influence of alcohol at the time and that the group of men there was known to use cocaine
although Allan said he was not using cocaine at that moment Sheila green Lonnie Hillary and
even Alan Jerome Murray were power powerful Witnesses but they all spoke about conversations with Crosley after
the murder the state needed Witnesses who could place Crosley near the crime scenes on the night of like Willie
Hampton the Umpire of the Little League game that evening he testified that he saw Crosley at holder Park and that
Crosley was wearing a jacket that matched Kim's description the prosecution also called
a witness who knew both the green and Flynn families I mean it was a very well-known trial back then a lot of
people was following this trial remember Tim Curtis from the local body shop he was the one who told police that the
police sketch looked like Crosley green and he was the one who sold the truck to
chip Flynn I notice also in your testimony you said to the jury I sold chip the truck that he was abducted in
which I I know the defense was not happy with because making that assumption he was abducted well well at that time
Aaron In fairness to everyone that's that's what the story was Chip was abducted taken down the road and shot
during his opening statements White had told the jury that they would hear a police dog handler testify about how his
dog tracked the shoeprints at holder Park to crosley's sister's house when Tim Curtis took the stand white asked
him about the last time he had seen Crosley at his sister Tina's house Tim said he had seen him there in the
afternoon just hours before the murder took [Music] place Tim remembers that day like it was
yesterday he later told me that shortly after he testified on that Thursday August 30th the third day of the trial
the judge called for a break Tim says he went out to his vehicle and looked over
at another car and i' looked over um at the person driving and I noticed it was a male and I thought wow I think that's
one of the jurors the juror look right back at him he took his thumb as if it was a knife
and stuck it in the side of his neck and Drug it across his throat and to be honest with you I I think I look back at
him and may have give him a thumbs up or you know had a boy or whatever I asked him what he thought that jer's hand
motion meant I took it as uh crosley's guilty the next day Tim says he went back to work at the body shop and Bobby
cook a longtime customer came in worried about his car then Bobby brought up the
trial and asked you know ain't you involved in that case and I said yeah and he goes how do you think the trial's
going I said well I think they got him found guilty and he goes well you say that and I told Bobby that what you had
seen the juror do Yeah Tim told Bobby about that juror in the parking lot what Tim didn't realize was that Bobby cook
was a private investigator for none other than crosley's defense attorney Rob Parker and now Tim's Body Shop
gossip could have very real consequences for the trial [Music] this was a Six-Day trial and on the
first 4 days from Tuesday August 28th to Friday August 31st the prosecution called a total of 26 Witnesses the
jurors went home for the weekend but it wasn't just any weekend it was Labor Day
weekend so they had three full days off to digest the evidence they were not not
sequestered when they returned on the morning of Tuesday September 4th defense attorney Parker motioned for a mistrial
four times Oh I thought I was going to get a [Music] mistrial what do you mean what did you
think well there was so much going on in that trial the defense took issue with the introduction of the photo lineup
That depicted crosley's photo is darker than all the others the dog tracking evidence because the prosecution could
not prove that the scent tract belonged to Crosley and Kim's father's testimony which Parker said was quote nothing but
the hearsay statements of Miss Kim HCK Parker had also learned about Tim Curtis's alleged interaction with that
juror and Parker claimed that his client couldn't get a fair trial Tim Curtis was
called back to the courtroom the judge explained to him in front of the why he had been brought back he goes
well you had an incident in the parking lot and then it just like at that point look like my whole brain and mind just
like went completely numb the judge asked him to identify the juror he saw in the parking lot I I I would
say that in my heart I didn't even look at the juries I didn't even focus my attention on them
and turned and answered him and I said no I don't see this person in the courtroom even though Curtis admits he
did yes because afterwards I'd seen the juror sitting up there you know and I was like wow that that was a guy why
didn't Tim tell the judge the truth this is his explanation I was feeling pressured but
I think most of all it's just I think to be honest with you I was thinking of Chip and thinking man I'm not going to
I'm not going to see this case ruined for you in my in my thoughts you know that I was more concerned with this case
isn't going to be ruin because of me Tim didn't want to mist trial so he lied and
sure enough all the Motions for mistrials were denied it was time for the defense to
make its case Parker called five additional witnesses to the stand a shoe print expert who said that the shoe
prints at holder Park could have match more than 10 different brands the chief umpire at holder Park
who spoke to Crosley that evening and said he wasn't wearing a jacket and had short hair and a friend of Kim's who saw
her early in the morning of April 4th and testified that she had grass stains on the back of her shirt the jury also
heard from James K the ex-boyfriend crosley's cousin carlen who had been arguing with carlen at her house that
night James testified that he remembered seeing Crosley sometime before 1:00 a.m.
but the jury never heard from cousin carlen or most surprising to me crosley's other Alibi witness Lori
Reigns who said Crosley was at her house starting at about 11 p.m. Rob Parker's last Witness was
Crosley sister Tina whose house was at the center of so much of the prior testimony she testified that their other
sister Sheila never told her that Crosley admitted to killing chip Flynn Crosley himself never took the
stand because he says Parker advised him not to Parker said that as the trial was
winding down Crosley was feeling optimistic he always felt like it would work out he always told me it'll work
out it's that he be acquitted everything's going to work out I mean he he kind of comforted me I guess um and
he seemed to have a confidence that it'll work out on the sixth and final day of the trial the case went to the
jury they were out only 3 hours Alma Jean blah says she was the last to hold out I had my doubts and I still have my
doubts what made you finally give in and vote to convict him I it was most of them all and I I
kind of just at the end you give up the clerk read the jury's verdict alowed guilty of robbery kidnapping and
first degree felony murder they all had that feeling that he did it from the beginning
maybe that feeling also had something to do with the fact that the phrase black man or black male was said over 100
times over the course of the trial I asked Parker if he thought the racial makeup of the jury had any impact on
that verdict I mean do you think it made a difference there was this all-white jury that a young white man had been
killed and here is a black man who doesn't take the stand you know the the only thing I can we can all speculate
certainly I'm not naive enough to think that uh that there are some on that jury
that may have had some racial bias maybe even significant racial bias um if they
did they denied it when we addressed it I also asked Parker about crosley's reaction to the
verdict you know to be honest with you it seems to me that the impact it had on me was such that I I think was so
stunned that um I'm not sure I can recall how he how he handled it but Crosley remembers
[Music] guilty that's all that's all I can remember was guilty after that I shut
everything off what do you mean after that I just shut everything up just shut everything
out see I had to my family was there and I didn't want them to get angry or upset
stuff like that yeah cuz I didn't want it no scene no nothing I was angry but why let something just
explode but for the folks on the other side of the courtroom Justice had been served especially for chip fn's parents
Charles and Peggy I think we got the right man did you have any questions in your mind at all when that verdict was
reached no no man I would later look back at the defenses strategies and wonder is there anything else Parker
could have done for Crosley I asked J Alma Jean bla how would you describe his defense
the way it was handled well maybe his defense wasn't strong enough maybe maybe he did maybe he I don't know
maybe should have got got somebody else I don't know I just there may have been better out there that could have helped
him more I don't know it wasn't yet over for Crosley that same jury now had to decide whether he would face life in
prison or death by execution the jury advisory sentencing hearing took place a little over 3 weeks
later on September 2 7 1990 now Parker was forced to take a different approach he argued that if the
jury believed that Crosley was guilty of murder he had to come up with evidence that showed that Crosley didn't want to
kill Kim or chip that he instinctively fired back after chip fired the first shots Parker pleaded with a jury quote
please don't overreact but prosecutor white argued that the killing was heinous atrocious
and cruel he asked the jury quote what could be worse than to murder someone kill someone over money just over money
judge anun also allowed white to inform the jury of crosley's Prior conviction in New York for armed robbery when
Crosley was just 18 however Crosley was never convicted of armed robbery but had in said pled
guilty to a lesser nonviolent crime that plea was also expunged from crosley's record due to his youthful offender
status if 3 hours sounds short for deliberating the murder charges against Crosley it only took a little more than
an hour for the jurors to decide whether he would live or die the jury 8 to4 recommended that Crosley green receive
the death penalty he was officially sentenced to death row on February 8th 1991 a devastating blow to many of his
family members including his two sons schuma age 16 and Gaston age six once they sign your warrant to be
executed you going to get executed and that scared the hell out of me I wouldn't learn about crosley's case
until almost 10 years later and after reviewing the evidence I had doubts that Crosley committed this crime and on top
of that key Witnesses from The Trial were coming forward to change their stories on the next episode of Murder in
the Orange Grove the troubled case against Crosley green every time I look at news and hear about individual on
death R I think about my brother and I knew that he's there not only for my statement but for other people's
statement but I knew mine was a lie got a big key are you ready on September 9th
1999 I walked into the Union Correctional Institution in Rayford Florida Florida's death row going into a
Maximum Security Prison isn't new to me I've been in dozens I've even done other
interviews on death row face to face with convicted Killers but this case weighed heavier on me who is Crosley
green hi Crosley I'm Aaron morard with CBS News 4 8 hours we've been looking at your case now it's really important to
meet you and have viewers meet you nervous at all today no no I'm not nervous I'm a little shy but I'm not
nervous it had been 9 years since Crosley was convicted for the murder of Chip Flynn and for the last 8 years he
had been sitting on death row confined to a 6t wide 9t long cell and that's where he spent 23 and2 hours every
day I want to ask you the question I think that everybody needs you to answer did you kill chip Flyin no I did not
kill that man I'm 48 Hours correspondent Aaron morard this is murder in the orang Grove
the trouble case against Crosley Green episode 4 Revelations [Music] I've been examining and Reporting on
crosley's case for 25 years since 1999 which is where we start this episode when I first met Crosley green
why should I believe that you didn't kill chiplin I'm going tell you just like I
tell people's my friends that was visiting me my attorneys hey I didn't kill that man all
right but it's already embedded in your mind I'm a criminal why should I believe you
initially I wondered could this be a case of mistaken identity the murder did occur on a moonless night in an unlit
Orange Grove Kim H said over and over again she didn't get a good look at the as
salant this was one of the first questionable conviction cases I had ever covered and I felt the need to find the
truth the real truth because the consequences were life or death the room where we met Crosley was Tiny just
enough space for me my cameraman and Crosley what's it like being here on death row it's
hell it's hell a lot in a lot of ways it's hell it's hell to me because I'm here for a crime I didn't
commit all right then I got to sit in my S 24 hours a day do you ever think about what you face if you don't
get out of here do I ever think about it no I don't think about it that is so far
away from my mind I didn't expect to find a man with so much hope but Crosley appeared to be
convinced that his murder conviction would one day be overturned if someone would just take a closer look well
listen do me a favor just don't take my word go look at records go look at every
file that they [Music] got and so we did back then in the summer of 1999 Chip's death 10 years earlier was
still a dark painful memory in the small Florida communities of Titusville and Mims but it was mostly unknown to
Outsiders like me I needed to go down there for myself to better understand the facts of the case
for the next few weeks I met with different members of the community from attorneys and forensic experts to people
who knew both crosy green and Chip Flynn people in their closest circles we spent
days there at a time and kept going back I started with reviewing the police records and reading trial transcripts
there seem to be several prosecution witnesses who placed Crosley at the first crime scene holder Park like
Willie Hampton a retired police officer at the time who testified that he saw Crosley wearing a jacket at the baseball
game earlier in the day it was consistent with the description of the bolo that's the police term for be on
the lookout but here's what Crosley said he was wearing that night what were you
wearing I think it was a tank top which you call a g shirt red jeans a pair of jeans and a pair of sneakers and what
about a jacket no sir listen if I had on a jacket at that time when that bolo came out why so many people that was
around me and I'm in sitting with them couldn't come up and say listen I remember a guy there with a army jacket
on he was sitting right beside me and there seemed to be inconsistencies about the as salent hair
if you remember Kim HCK first told police that the as salant had an afro here she's talking to a sheriff's deputy
on April 4th 1989 just hours after the murder okay uh what about the hair could you tell the hairstyle of the blackmail
just afro and there nothing fancy nothing weird was said thick long short just thick kind of long not long
a little bit little bit of n but later at a pre-trial deposition the description of the as salent hair had
changed Kim told defense attorney Rob Parker that the suspect had tight ringlets styled with a substance like a
gel when I asked Crosley about how he wore his hair he insisted that it had been very short almost like a buzz
cut as I kept pushing him for specific details you can hear him getting more and more frustrated until can I look at
the camera cuz I want to say this in the camera man go ahead um the way I look now is the way I look
in I mean so your hair was that the way I look now is the way I look then that's
short and she described someone with curls over the years the way I look now to you this is exactly what I look
like okay it may not be quite clear about what just happened but Crosley had become so frustrated with my questions
over and over again about his hair that he suddenly just looked away from me and
then looked straight into the camera lens and said the way I look now is the way I look then okay okay got it Crosley
that is still one of my favorite moments from that first interview and more than
another decade later Crosley still wears his hair pretty much the same he has short cropped hair almost completely
shaven I think we all have ideas of what a Killer looks like Crosley didn't fit mine you could tell when someone is
guarded not Crosley this was a guy who was open and eager to talk to me I got the sense that he was thrilled to
finally get the chance to tell his side of the story I was told not to say nothing not
to take the stand no not only not to take the stand but after it was over I was told by my attorney uh don't say
nothing I do the talking for you what did you want to say what I want to say I want to turn
around and tell the parent that kid that I'm sorry about their son but I didn't kill their son what
struck me the most about talking to Crosley is not just that he denied killing chip I mean I expected that but
how much he wanted to set the record straight with Chip's parents what pained him the most was that they thought he
murdered their son they've been fed with something that is not true they have been fed with something
that's not true okay and I feel bad for them I really do I feel bad for them when I
lost my mother and father I know what I felt and for her to lose her son I know what she
felt what's the first thing that comes to your mind when you think of CH rarely did you see him without a
smile on his face just rarely that smile he always wor before I met cley I met Charles and
Peggy Flynn Chip's parents it's the hardest part of reporting on crime talking to parents who have lost a
beloved child and Chip Flyn was a beloved child after his murder the 10 years that had passed had done nothing
to reduce their pain they spoke to me in their rville home what's the most important thing you want people to know
about Chip he didn't deserve to die we sat at their dining room table with pictures of
Chip over the years spread across the table Family Photos School Portraits in all of them chip is smiling with
laughter in his eyes I'm a mom myself I don't know how anyone goes on after losing a
child you you want to wake up every day and say hey this has all been a bad dream it's going to go away it don't
chip was named after his father Charles Charles remembered Kim H's faithful call in those early morning
hours of April 4th 1989 she just told us that she that they had been kidnapped and that this guy
take them down the Orange Grove and the chip jumped out of the truck shooting to
try to save her and she jumped in the truck and took off do you believe Crossley green is the
man who robbed and killed your son yes absolutely AB I definitely do there's nothing no worse than I'd rather do than
see somebody go to the chair for something they didn't do but I think we would never want that to happen but I
agree I feel like there's enough proof um that it that it has that the case has totally been proven that he did do it
and that's the way I feel you're telling people you're innocent and you're still sitting here on death
row I'm a poor black man I don't have no money to hire no lawyer no investigators I have to do it what they
give me I have to I have to do with that while Crosley couldn't afford an attorney he did have a rotating cast of
at least five court appointed def defense attorneys at that point they had tried and failed to get his conviction
overturned or even get him off death row still Crosley remained upbeat convinced
that he would someday walk free I have one one great big hope to try to help myself by writing to different
peoples and ask them for help to take a look at it you know I'm not just going to sit here and give
and not try to help myself turns out that crosley's willingness to talk to different people
would prove to be a major turning point in his case in large part thanks to this
woman Nan Webb I just almost feel driven sometimes to help people that can't help
themselves cuz I think that's what we're supposed to do that's what God tells us
we're supposed to do in 1999 when I met n web she was a 57-year-old teacher an anti-death row activist she and her
husband Bill sat with me one afternoon in the kitchen of their Melbourne Florida home a flyer titled release
Crosley green now was displayed prominently on their fridge alongside a photo of their poodle and a Serenity
Prayer magnet here's bill and I just believe the man is innocent and I won't help him cu as much as I possibly can
and support him and his his family what if Crosley green is guilty he's not but what if he is but he's
not how can you know that because I've read the information and and we know Crosley they
wanted to hire a private attorney for him but they didn't have the money so n went to a wrongful conviction conference
in Chicago in hopes of meeting someone who would take the case pro bono and for the first time in nearly a decade
crosley's luck took a turn after talking to Nan a private detective decided to recruit a team of five other
investigators from across the country to re-examine the evidence against Crosley
for [Music] free I asked Crosley what he thought about the these investigators who were
willing to drop everything to look into his case you can probably imagine his answer you feeling more
helpful can I scream and I when I feel good I like to cry out so can I cry out you feel good that's that's what I feel
like and that's really how I along with a group of 48 Hours producers got involved in this story in early 1999
when we heard that a band of private detectives were reinvestigating crosley's case on their own dime we knew
there was probably a story there around the beginning of August we rolled into town with a CBS News camera
crew we stuck out like a sore thumb and we had to be careful it felt like everyone knew each other
and We Were Strangers from New York digging into a 10-year-old case that it clearly left its mark on Rural
Florida my first impression of bravard County was that it's like many counties in Florida rural buggy especially with
mosquitoes it was humid with wide open soggy spaces of overgrowth if you're traveling north nor
on how US1 on the right side is the area known as East Mims and that is where the
vast majority of black citizens live on the west side is West Ms and that is where the vast majority of whites live
when I started working on this podcast I wanted to know more about the racial history of Titusville and Mims and
that's how we found Bill Gary he's been involved in the local NAACP chapter for decades and told me about his experience
moving to Bard County Now 50 years ago there was segregation here my my first wife and I bought a house out in North
Titusville where there were no other black families and um we endured several months of people throwing citrus fruit
on our house driving through our yards they spray painted the inward on both sides of of the house uh Florida to many
people um conjures up an image of of beaches of palm trees Orange Groves but also Florida has a very dark history uh
when it comes to the treatment of black citizens in this state at one time Florida was the leading state in terms
of lynchings Bill is also board president of a cultural institution dedicated to
Harry and Harriet Moore the Moors were two activists who spearheaded the Florida civil rights movement right here
in Mims in 1951 they were murdered when their house was bombed it's important because it's a part not only
of the African-American history uh of the state but also of the nation we have the annual Harry Mo memorial service and
when we arrived there were some cluc Clan Flyers all over the parking lot and they have been uh Flyers scattered in
neighborhoods and stuff over different years while Bill Gary didn't know Crosley personally after crosley's
conviction in 1990 his brother ' Conor asked Bill to review the trial transcripts they both hoped that bill
would see for himself the lack of evidence against Crosley and could help rally the community to fight for his
release this was a big story back in '89 the people that I've talked to in the community I never heard any comments
or talks about uh Crosley attacking anybody or being violent at school or anything of that nature which
is why I think many people were surprised when he was prosecuted for this as I continued to learn more about
crosley's case this was a common sentiment I heard from many people even though Crosley had had run-ins with the
law and a conviction for selling drugs no one could imagine he was capable of murder and why why did they want that
conviction so badly cuz a young white man dies yes uh and based on the testamentary of a a young white woman
and the the state attorney that we had at that time uh was not interested in in Justice what they were interested in is
a conviction that State Attorney was Norm wolfinger prosecutor Chris White's boss
wolfinger died in 2016 but he was still in office in 1999 when I started to investigate this case from where you're
standing now do you believe that Crosley green is one who killed chip Flynn you know what I believe isn't important now
the jury has found him guilty the Florida the the judge has sentenced him to wolfinger and many in the local
community it was an open and shut case Crosley green had murdered chip Flynn but 9 years after the trial Crosley
still couldn't believe that he had been convicted I really didn't expect them to
find me guilty what can they find me guilty of what [Music] evidence but now there was a new team of
private detectives in town who were starting to pick apart that evidence that group of five men and one woman
from around the country who flew in to reexamine crosley's case for free they had been in Bard County since July and
when we caught up with them later that summer they were sunburned tired and making
progress all right let's rock and roll coming through the bug infested Florida Orange
Grove Bing got it they were pouring over oldc case documents topography maps and aerial
photographs of the crime scenes and they were searching for prosecution witnesses
who would be willing to talk to them they caught a break a big one when they found Alan Jerome Murray he was one of
the several witnesses who testified against Crosley at his murder trial he was the witness of trial who had been
part of a group of men hanging around the corner in Mims known as 21 Jump Street Allan had testif that Crosley was
also there and told them he had just killed a man and that he was going to quote
disappear I spoke to Alan myself about this experience it's a little hard to hear and understand Allan on this
recording so listen carefully tell me about it what what what did you say 10 years ago I sent an innoc man to prison
I sent an innocent man to prison Allan said Allan who was on Parole at the time of the murder told me that he felt
pressured by detectives to come up with a story about Crosley green any story that would connect him to the crime and
what did they want you to say that the black man say he killed somebody and um they told me said um if I don't say what
I what they want me to say I go right back to slam what did you tell the police they told me to say say he killed
him so I just said he killed him again in case you couldn't quite hear him Allan said they told me to say he killed
him so I just said he killed him and did Crosley green ever tell you that he didn't never told me that nearly 10
years after Allan testified against Crosley he admitted that he had lied on the stand and apparently he wasn't the
only one remember Tim Curtis that autoshop repair owner who to Poli the sketch of the alleged as salent look
like Crosley well 10 years later he had a confession to make did that sketch look like Crosley
green no it didn't not at all the sketch was of a a fatter type face person Crosley green had a real narrow
Nal bone structure of the face did you tell the police though that it looked like Crosley
agree I think I may have said that in the report um why say anything at all I was
angry I wanted the person who done it I wanted Justice done at all cost even if if the wrong person was
convicted but at the time I thought we had the right person or I felt that was the right person Tim had
also told police that O Connor told him that Crosley had shot chip even though Tim knew it wasn't true I think I may
have said something like that I think that was almost like you got a little fire going so you had a
little bit more cold to it so you added embellished I think made up no I I wouldn't go as far as to say really made
up I think it's almost like how rumors get started you know I seen the guy jump to De Creek by the time it gets back to
you he swam the creek heck he walked on water before he got to the other side do
you believe you made a mistake now I do and if if Crosley green is innocent and if Crosley
green didn't do this well like they say the Opera ain't over till the fat lady sing
and I think the fat L's fixing a sing on this one the investigative team was on a
roll they tracked down another prosecution witness Lonnie Hillary the fiance of crosley's sister Sheila he
told these private investigators in a videotaped statement that he felt pressured by prosecutor Chris White to
testify against Crosley to corroborate Sheila's account of that night at crosley's trial Lonnie corroborated
Sheila's story and testified that he saw Crosley in the hours after the murder and said that Crosley told him quote I
[ __ ] up but now 10 years later Lonnie told private investigators this wasn't true it couldn't be because Lonnie was
with Sheila for the entire night of the murder and the following morning and neither had spoken to Crosley about
[Music] anything but one of the most important Witnesses the woman whose testimony was
devastating to Crosley a trial well she was Elusive and kept avoiding the investigator's
calls that was Sheila green I asked Rob Parker crosley's defense attorney for the 1990 trial just
how damning was Sheila's testimony I you know basically told told Crosley I said you know she strapped you
in did you believe Sheila green at that time do you believe that Crosley green actually told her did no I don't believe
that why do you think Sheila green testified against her own brother that way why she didn't want to go to federal
prison the more I learned about this case the more I realized just how powerful her testimony was against her
brother did she also lie on the stand just like Lonnie Hillary and Alan Jerome Murray it became clear that in order to
overturn crosley's case the piis would need to track down Sheila and ask did Crosley really confess the pressure was
on to find her and we appealed to her older sister Shirley White I can only show Sheila love and
give her love the rest is up to Sheila but do you want her to come forward now I want her to come forward I
told her today to come for she will I know she will she's my sister she will I have that much confidence in
her somehow Shirley did her magic and later that week there she was leaning against a vehicle Sheila spoke with the
investigators I wasn't allowed to hear that initial conversation and I thought if she didn't
want to talk to them them she'll never talk to me a reporter with a camera but she
did what are these last 10 years been like for you it's been like hell that's something I had to live with
for the for 10 years every time I look at news and hear about an individual on death R I think about my brother and I
knew that he's there not only for my statement but for other people stat but I knew mine was a lie and I always told
myself one day that I was going to help him I didn't know about how to go about helping him because I was so
afraid of what the outcome of my situation is because I'm on probation and um I don't know the
judicial system you know and I was afraid of being sent back to prison it was painful to hear Sheila
story she's a mother and she said prosecutors promised to reduce her upcoming sentence on a drug conviction
if she gave information about crosley's whereabouts on the night of Flynn's murder what did they say would happen if
you didn't testify against your brother I would never see my kids again they said that specifically
yes my kids is is one of my weakness you know you use my kids as like like you stabbing me in my heart
with a knife and I never been a separated from my kids and I felt that I wanted to see him again so I
cooperated with the DEA and the State Attorney office are you telling me Sheila then that your entire testimony
against your brother was a lie was a whole lie what did that feel like on the stand felt
horrible it was wrong but I felt I had to do it do you think Crosley had anything to do with
the murder no have you talked to Crosley at all in all these 10 years no I haven't do you want
to yes what would you tell him he will understand he you think he will yes he will he know I
did it's okay he he wouldn't be mad with me and Sheila was right when I asked him about
this terrible betrayal Crosley didn't seem to be mad or even holding a grudge against his sister
I'm not no rookie with jce system okay um I'm I was 31 she was what 23 24 okay and she never went through a system
before they Shu her up pretty pretty good things change when they start to really mess with and start talking about
taking her kids and stuff away from them come on crowy no I don't hate my sister
man cuz it ain't Sheila fault no it ain't Sheila fault she testified against you
listen when I saw my sister in trial that wasn't my sister okay and it hurted me to my heart
to see her like that that wasn't my sister Sheila did not receive the lighter sentence she was
promised she ultimately gained nothing from testifying against Crosley surprisingly Crosley didn't have
anger towards the people who testified against him because he knew the system he knew prosecutors and investigators
can and sometimes would divide families just to convict someone I'm a lawyer and
still this was shocking to me you've had what 10 years at least to think about what happened that night
what do you think happened what I think I think it's terrible that a young man got
killed okay but who killed him how he got killed and all that I don't know but do you think that
there is man out there a black man by think there another man out there a killer I don't know this young
lady okay I'm not going to call her a liar maybe it wasn't no one maybe it was someone I wasn't there I can't tell you
that I cannot tell you that I had my doubts and I still have my doubts this is Alma Jean Bloss one of
the jurors on that 12 person all white jury that convicted Crosley of murder on a hot Florida summer day in
1999 I sat at her kitchen island a scan of the local paper floored today between
us it was the first article that the paper had written on the murder of Chip Flynn 10 years
ago Alma was composed but she was troubled all these years later she was still haunted by her decision to vote
vote for a guilty verdict and seemed to want to get it off her chest from the very beginning you yes from the very
from the very beginning yes the evidence was lacking pieces from the puzzle were
gone there was no proof of this and that what worried you the most well no fingerprints in the truck that's was
that was my biggest thing no fingerprints when he drove a truck and no gloves mentioned did he put his socks
on his hands remember the only identifiable prints found on chip truck belonged to Kim HCK no prints anywhere
on that truck were traced back to Crosley Alma had other concerns too they never found crosley's gun so did he have
one and how did they know what color cloes in an Orange Grove was pitch dark the fact that there was only one
eyewitness a young white woman identifying a black man did that concern you well to me actually I'll tell you it
was like a madeup story you thought that at the time in my personal opinion down deep in I thought
it was a madeup thing and then she said she saw the shots it was like she saw the shots
after dark how could you see them you might hear them and that bothered me it's bothered me for all these years
and yet even with all these questions and yes doubts during the trial Alma voted to convict Crosley along with the
11 other jurors did you feel pressure in the Jury Room to convict him yes I did because he had a previous past he had
just got out of prison or the jury they just kept saying he did it he did it he did it and I held out till the end what
made you finally give in I just they're all against me and I was the only one and it was down to the
Grits so that's what you do Alma could have hung that jury and maybe saved Crosley from Death
Row after talking to Alma and thinking more about the evidence I began to consider really for the first time a
completely different theory of the crime and it's something that Crosley himself
had alluded to in his interview what if this wasn't a case of mistaken identity of a third-party as
salent what if there was no third person at all just Kim and chip in that Orange
Grove I asked State Attorney Norm wolfinger why wasn't in this particular case Kim hoc ever considered a
suspect well I'm not getting into the investigation I can't say she was or wasn't I that was uh something that
happened in the investigation I went through the entire investigation I went through the entire file I went read
through all the court transcripts at no time did the police question her story they never tested her hair to see if a
gun had been held up against her head they never tested her clothing they never tested her hands why wouldn't that
be done wouldn't that be standard procedure well again I'm not going to get into the
investigation back in 1999 there was nothing in the police records or court documents to indicate that law
enforcement or prosecutors ever question Kim's story wanted to hear directly from
her about what happened that night but she denied 48 Hours multiple requests for an
interview we don't really know what Kim thinks she's never agreed to talk with us but Kim did provide us with a
statement that read in part quote for the last 10 years I've had to live with the memories and nightmares of that
horrific evening the fact is there are only two surviving Witnesses from that evening myself and Crosley and I'm sure
deep down inside Crosley knows that he's right where he deserves to be I took another look at the physical
evidence presented at trial the prosecution had shown the jury a diagram of holder Park the first crime scene
that showed shoe prints that stopped where Chip's truck was reportedly parked but reviewing the crime scene videotape
again with a private detective we noticed a discrepancy here is Agent dear's talking
on the video taken hours after the murder we heard some of this recording in past episodes and I think it's
important to Play It Again crime scene begins with what we believe to be suspect shoe prints that
initiate at this point agent dears assumed that the alleged attacker arrived at the park in
a vehicle because the shoeprints appeared to start on the side of the road heading in a West Direction up into
the area between the trees which is where this victim's vehicle was parked along with the two victims prior to the
abduction this so far matches the police diagram presented at trial but in the videotape crime scene Walk Through dears
continues you shoe prins after proceeding West will then continue on around just to the outside of this
fence with the last shoe print being seen just north of the second cement pole the shoe prints at dears is
following the one she believes belongs to the alleged as salant left the park along the fence so how could he have
gotten into the truck with chip and Kim [Music] the investigative team and I examined
another important piece of evidence Chip's truck it was a hulking 82 Chevrolet Stepside 4x4 pickup it was
massive the tires were so big that the only way to get into the truck was by grabbing along the window frames and
Hauling yourself in I asked Tim Curtis who had once owned the truck and then later sold it to chip if it was as hard
to drive as it looked yeah if you look at Kim's statement she never mentions any problem with the driving I mean with
is that possible from what you know about this truck no way I drove that truck I know exactly how that truck
drove 100% without a shadow of a doubt at all you could not get in that truck and take off without it stalling that is
a fact even if you knew a lot about driving stick I heck I own the truck and at times when I pull away from a
stoplight I would even stall it and I've driven it for who knows how long and got
a lot of experience driving trucks like that if even a career auto mechanic has had issues with stalling Chip's truck I
wondered how someone like crosly could have driven it for the first time that night steering and shifting and don't
forget with the added challenge of pointing a gun at Kim and Chip all at the same time
crosley's trial attorney Rob Parker never asked Crosley back in 1989 if he knew how to drive a stick
shift and the new team of piis told me they hadn't asked him either but I was raised driving cars with standard
transmissions and it came up in my conversation with Crosley we were talking about the morning after Chip's
murder when Crosley said he was helping his cousin carlen with her car and did you try and move the car oh yeah I tried
I tried to drive a car but you know she don't like me to drive it because I can't drive a car what do you mean you
can't drive a car I can't drive a car why not why can't you drive a car it's a stick shift and I get I have trouble
driving a car okay and what do you mean you have trouble driving okay I have probably shifting a car shifter and it
jerks when I tries to drive it to be sure we checked later with carlen and she corroborated that Crosley tried to
move the car but as she put it he kept quote jerking it Crosley help me out here if you have trouble driving stick
Shi and standard transmission I mean you knew that truck that chip Flynn owned was standard transmission why didn't you
tell your lawyer that I didn't do that what do you mean how how I supposed to know that man got a standing shift or
automatic how I supposed to know you tell me how I supposed to know what kind of truck that man
got such a simple detail that somehow fell through the cracks at trial the fact that the truck had a standard
transmission with a clutch was part of the evidence at trial and yet no one thought to ask Crosley if he could even
drive it I asked defense attorney Rob Parker to clarify for me more details of the
case did the pr uters ever find any Fingerprints of cros grits no did they find any bloody clothing
no did they find this ass salance weapon no did they find any weapon that Crosley
green owned that could be connected to that shooting no ma'am did they find any evidence at all physical evidence that
Crosley green was there quite to the contrary they found evidence um fingerprint evidence Laten fingerprints
that are not crosly green and are to this day unidentified by the end of our time in
Bard County I felt like I was leaving with more questions than answers why was there a man sitting on
death row for nearly a decade when there was no direct physical evidence tying him to the
crime my crew and I headed home to New York to work on our broadcast and thought we might be dealing with a
wrongful conviction 48 hours we take you [Music] there on November 1st 1999 48 Hours aired its first broadcast
on Crosley green Dan Rather introduced our story a condemned man is waiting to die he insists that he's innocent and
perhaps he is back in the 90s CBS and Broadcast News in general had a lot of power news networks were the only game
in town and there were very few wrongful convictions reported on the air still reversing a death sentence can be an
impossible mission our report gave national attention to this small town murder but it also Shook Up rard County
the investigative team turned up four people who had testified against Crosley who then later recanted their stories
even at the risk of being charged with Pur y this was a Monumental Revelation for
the community there and one for me too what happens if they don't get you a new trial what happened he from this day
forward like I say if I make it or don't make it it's always going to be a question about this case it's always
going to be something about this case that people's going to wonder about [Music]
on the next episode of Murder in the Orange Grove the troubled case against Crosley green you have tons of
circumstantial evidence against Kim now I don't see how how it could have gone the way it did you actually believe chip
came up with this story along with her absolutely there's no he have to he'd have to and if it was some stranger who
abducted him and shot him I think the first words out of his mouth would be he went that way it was a black man he went
that way you know but he would never say it's always just get me out of here get
me out of here get me out of here that's all he would ever [Music] say so this this was an unusual case did
it ever occur to you or anyone else that maybe Kim HCK was wasn't telling the truth well of course it did I mean it
always does I don't accept what everyone tells me at face value that's former assistant State
Attorney Chris White he was one of two prosecutors who tried Crosley gream for the murder of Chip Flynn back in
1990 back in 2015 I asked him why Kim hoc was never investigated as a possible suspect
what do you mean I mean what no GSR taken of her hands why not I don't know if there was or wasn't there was it why
weren't her clothes collected um again why pictures they weren't why weren't pictures taken up of
her hands her arms to see if she had any injuries well those are all interesting
questions but I'm not really quite sure that you ought to ignore all the things that uh that were done and do exist but
what I've been told is that it's just standard practice that you investigate the person who's calling 911 one of the
last people to see chip Flynn alive that you would investigate her but your own investigator said she was never ever
investigator as a suspect and I wasn't the only one who wondered why beginning in 1999 the private investigators
forensic experts the media and the state re-examined and questioned the validity
of crosley's conviction after four state Witnesses recanted and said they lied at
trial I'm 48 Hours correspondent Aon morard this is murder in the Orange Grove the trouble case against Crosley
Green episode 5 life or death row 48 hours we take you there on September 5th 1990 an allwhite
jury eight women and four men convicted Crosley green of kidnapping robbery and first-degree murder the judge then
sentenced him to death since then Crosley green has been on death row nine years waiting to die after 48 Hours
aired impossible mission on November 1st 1999 other news outlets picked up the story
about the four Witnesses who had recanted their testimonies we got letters from viewers who were outraged
and wanted to know more several different attorneys stepped up and offered to represent Crosley and even
before our report aired crosley's case had already grabbed so much attention that Florida State Attorney Norm
wolfinger requested the Florida Department of Law Enforcement also known as the f dle to review the case you must
have been concerned about some of these questions that the detectives have raised for you to call in the Florida
Department of Law Enforcement you know this is an investigation we have somebody on death row so we want to do a
fair independent review and that's what we're going to do in 1999 I met with wolfinger to discuss Crosley Green's
case and I asked him if he's ever had four Witnesses in one trial recant a decade later later have you ever had
that I don't know that we've ever had that accusation uh made of four P persons recanning I asked the same
question of prosecutor Chris White you know I never have I I never have that doesn't trouble you not coming from
those people with those ties to the Green family and the Green family being what it is no it doesn't trouble me a
great deal and I think virtually every one of those folks had prior criminal history th those people are not
law-abiding honest people that you can trust to tell the truth about something like that and that's the way I took it
I'm sorry but that's the way I took it those people that white now called unreliable and dishonest were the same
ones that he used to build his case a trial and told the jury to trust why did you use people that you say have no
credibility and you offer them deals help them out if they would say that crle green confessed you say you used
people that had no credibility mhm I was pretty much convinced that if they had watched this happen they would have
never told us about it unless they found themselves in a situation where it was of benefit to them to actually tell us
what I can consider would be the truth and State Attorney wolfinger's response to the
recantations is that a concern that's why FDLE is looking at it the Florida Department of Law
Enforcement or the FDLE was set up to support state agencies in preventing investigating and solving crimes in the
State of Florida for crosley's case inspectors were asked to review the crime scene details again reinie
Witnesses collect all available forensic evidence and then break down Point by Point their investigation I have all the
confidence in the world they're going to do a good job and we'll go from there if
they find these things in fact happen that's going to be embarrassing for this office isn't it it's not embarrassing if
somebody lies on the stand you can't control people lying on the stand but if it involved some questionable tactics by
the prosecution's office well those are matters that that obviously F will look at and you know and we'll have them
resolved Crosley and his team of private investigators knew that this could be a
turning point in his case so crosy was not concerned when the FDLE indicated as part of the
investigation that two human hairs would be submitted for DNA testing that evidence never used at
trial came from a vacuum collection of Chip Flynn's truck Crosley was willing to to submit a blood
sample why weren't those tests done earlier well at the time of the murder the use of forensic DNA technology to
test evidence like human hairs was still very new but by 1999 in the 10 years since Chin's murder the forensic
technology had Advanced it would take over 11 months for the FDLE investigators to compile
their findings and on July 25th 2000 they released their report in the more than 80 page report
investigators admitted that no evidence was found in either holder park or the Orange Grove to implicate Crosley green
but they also concluded that the prosecution did not pressure Sheila green Lonnie Hillary or Alan Jerome
Murray to testify against Crosley although all three Witnesses recanted their testimonies investigators said
their credibility was questionable but the most significant finding of the report came at the end
investigators determined that the testing of the two human hairs that they identified as quote negroid body hairs
found in the vacuum collection of Chip's truck connected Crosley green to the victim's vehicle and that meant
according to the report report that the DNA results corroborated Kim's identification of
Crosley the report was devastating newspaper headlines read drive to free death row inmate backfires and DNA test
puts convict at murder scene Norm wolfer told the press and I quote the DNA match
puts Crosley Green in that truck obviously we don't have an innoc man on death row we have the right man but
crosley's investigators called the state's DNA testing bad science and the media's coverage shameful for acting on
a press release that was quote untruthful and misleading I know I haven't been in that
truck it's not mine that's not my hair I can't explain it to you other than tell you that I was
nowhere around at the time that crime was committed and I never been in that truck I I myself PR agree never been in
that truck I still remember reading the FDLE report for the first time and that sinking feeling I had and yet I knew
enough about DNA testing to realize that there was something wrong with the reports conclusion it said quote lab
coure test found that the negroid hairs were consistent with the hair samples as
originating from Crosley Alexander green or a maternally related individual no other maternal relation of greens has
been identified as a suspect in this case in the early days of DNA analysis when when juries were presented with
this evidence I think they were given the impression that it was a lot more definitive than it really was this is
Nathan lent a biology professor and forensic scientist at John J College in New York City we spoke earlier this year
and he agreed to help me understand how DNA testing has evolved since the time of the FDLE
report mitochondrial DNA can eliminate someone but it can't confirm identity it it it does it doesn't really implicate
someone mitochondrial DNA unlike nuclear DNA only contains genes from your mother's side which means it's not as
precise and that can complicate identifying someone because anyone who has the same mother any two individuals
with the same mother will also have the same mitochondrial DNA and then of course their mother as well so you can
extend that out to first cousins second cousins third cousins if you can imagine
a family tree going back looking only at mothers and you will find that the number of relatives you have you know
expand exps exponentially every generation are you saying then just so I understand millions of people could
share the exact same mitochondrial DNA exact same yes you could go back to the Middle Ages nuclear DNA is better at
identifying specific individuals because it's a mixture of genes from both parents but in this case the FDL Le
commissioner said that the two hairs from the truck were just so small that they wouldn't contain enough new nuclear
DNA for forensic testing mitochondrial DNA was their only option and it's worth restating here what Professor lent
pointed out as the weakness of mitochondrial DNA testing mitochondrial DNA can eliminate someone but it can't
confirm identity it it doesn't it doesn't really implicate someone so the two hairs don't definitively Place
Crosley in the truck could they belong to someone else like his brother well it turns out you
know Conor had been in that truck probably maybe a half a dozen times prior to me ever selling the chip
remember Tim Curtis he's the guy who owned a local body shop and he sold chip Flynn his pickup truck he was also one
of the four Witnesses at trial who recanted Tim had been friends with crosley's little brother okan growing
up here's what OK Conor green had to say I know the truck well because I used to
drive the truck I used to take the truck to lunch sometime and come back and sometime I used to ride with Tim Curtis
in the truck and come back to the shop cuz I used to be up to a dad Body Shop all the
time if Crosley green cannot be excluded and his brother can't be excluded how many more people can't be excluded if
you're talking about the area of that region in Florida I would bet dollars to Donuts you're talking about dozens of
people in his you know within a 100 miles we'll say and here's something else to
consider in the vacuum collection investigators found several other types of hair along with what they called
quote negroid body hairs that they link to Crosley but the forensic lab was only
asked to check for the presence of negroid hairs I asked Lance why they didn't test all the hairs and whether he
thought that implicit bias might have played a part in this investigation you can't tell the the
racial or ethnic background by looking at a hair either you of course there are textures and colors that are more common
in some groups than others uh calling it a negroid hair we just don't do that anymore I mean that that was also the
language that was used at that time uh but we don't you we don't say that anymore because it's suggestive and
that's why subjective determinations you know really aren't allowed in court or shouldn't be allowed in court and and
frankly it seemed pretty clear that they were on the lookout for a negroid hair what tells you that I mean that's called
bias right and there's a an expression you only find what you look for and so if you're not if you're looking for a
particular kind of hair to implicate a particular type of person and you're vacuuming a truck you're going to find
that or potentially and how many other hairs did they just sift through because they weren't looking for that kind of
hair so when the Florida Department of Law Enforcement says this testing has placed Crosley Alexander green inside
the V victim's vehicle you agree with that I I don't think that that's a defensible
statement I really don't and I think that um I think that Crosley deserves uh much
he deserves a new trial at the least this case to me looks like they were trying to find evidence that aligned
with what they thought happened and pointing at Crosley green mhm the mitochondrial DNA test result
was a major setback for Crosley and what's worse the hairs were destroyed during the test because forensics used
100% of the hair evidence collected for the investigation so even if Crosley had
dreamed of doing another DNA test another time when DNA technology evolved to give a more definitive answer he
[Music] couldn't the fd's findings may not have exonerated Crosley green but they did
confirm the inconsistencies in Kim H's story about the night that chip Flyn was murdered like how the bullet recovered
from Chip's body may have been fired from his own 22 caliber revolver not a semi-automatic weapon like Kim
described or how although Kim said the suspect's gun accidentally went off at holder park there were no shell casings
found there and casings that were found at the Orange Grove were old and had been there long before the murder and
there was this that the main shoeprints in the park which the prosecution said belonged to the suspect actually showed
someone coming in and out of the area not disappearing where the truck had been parked which contradicts the
prosecution's diagram that was shown at trial to bolster Kim's story that the suspect drove off with her in chip these
were serious inconsistencies that I never saw mention in the Press coverage about the FDLE
report the series of events as she described them do not align with the evidence that's on
the scene Mark rxy is now retired from The Bard County Sheriff's Office it wasn't
easy to get him to talk initially but I've interviewed him since many times over the years covering this case he was
one of the first two responders on the scene of Chip's murder I asked him what he thought when he heard Kim's account
of the events the night of the murder I thought it was totally Preposterous totally this truck is high
off the ground for someone whose hands are tied behind his back to get a hold of a gun jump out of this jacked up
truck and start shooting from behind his back does not seem credible me whatsoever you have tons of
circumstantial evidence against Kim one thing against Crosley 20 things against Kim you know I don't see how how it
could have gone the way it did there's a lot rexie says he still doesn't understand about that Knight like why it
took him so long to call 911 why she gave the police the wrong directions multiple times and why the ti fire
tracks from the truck showed no signs of hurry on the way out of the Orange Grove
I followed the same path that uh the truck left the orchard in and I noticed that the tire prints were
perfectly detailed if you leave a Sandy area or a dirt area in a hurry you're going to
have some Tire spin there's not going to be perfectly detailed tire tracks and these were perfectly detailed and what
did that say to you at that moment nothing cuz I didn't know the the story of what supposedly happened there but
later on that morning after we were released from the crime scene it seemed extremely unusual because she was
supposedly leaving that area in a in a big hurry you know and there's the evidence didn't support that former Bard
County Patrol Sergeant Diane Clark was also on the midnight Patrol shift the night of the murder she was working with
brixie to locate chip and secure the crime scene Clark had her own suspicions if the shooter had what she said was a
small flat weapon flat black would have been most likely a pistol versus a revolver
they had would have had been shell casings because a revolver the casings stay in the weapon with a semi-automatic
they discharge when the slide comes back the casing pops out the side and they never found any casings out there what
does that say to you tells me that there wasn't a semi-automatic and in the in as
dark as it was unless he took the time to scour the area and pick up the casings or casing
or whatever and I high doubt that happened then where were they was there ever a
semi-automatic out there I don't see that that makes a case that Kim committed this murder I brought
up Clark's and rx's theory about Kim's story to prosecutor Chris White I'm not I'm not saying that well yes you are and
you know that's the only reason I'm here because I think it's an atrocity that this woman was put through being accused
of this at trial and it was tried let me tell you I I was there and the only thing that happened in the course of all
of that was that a jury got to listen to All of the evidence live from the mouths
of the witnesses and they got to see all of the exhibits and they made a determination as to what they believed
happened I TR talk a little bit okay when you're I know you're offended that anyone rais the possibility that Kim H
might have had something to do with this so let's talk about this based on evidence I'm
offended now brixie told me something else I believe that she accidentally shot him I actually I believe they were
sitting at holder Park got into an argument she pulled the Glen out of the glove box and shot him accidentally I
don't believe she intentionally wanted to kill him or shoot him panicked they both panicked concocted this story and
drove him out there and dropped him off and said I'll you know we'll come back to protect her so she wouldn't go to
jail once he died then the Stakes were raised tremendously and she could never go back on her story because then she'd
be even in more trouble so you actually believe chip came up with this story along with her absolutely there's no he
have to he'd have to because he it was it was apparent when I got there that he did not want to tell us who did it he
there's no way and if it was some stranger who abducted him and shot him I think the first words out of his mouth
would be he went that way it was a black man he went that way you know but he would never say it was always just get
me out of here get me out of here get me out of here that's all he would ever say
did you tell anyone your suspicions oh absolutely that that morning I told everybody I talked to you know all of
them I said I said she did it Mark believes that he knows what chip told her out there when he wasn't there
huh but I think we ought to stick with the facts all right this was not the first time White
had heard about about rxy and Clark's doubts about what happened that night he knew about it long before Crosley green
ever went on trial it turns out that white never disclosed to the defense a critical piece of evidence he had notes
that he had taken at a meeting with rxy and Clark who went to his office in August of 1989 over 4 months after the
murder but a year before the trial this is what you're you know what this is this is yeah those
are the notes that I took when I was speaking uh to them in the notes that white took during that meeting he wrote
that rxy and Clark suspected the girl did it and that she changed her story a couple of times and he also wrote quote
didn't see any footprint didn't see any casings she wouldn't go down there to the scene why wouldn't the guy say who
shot him just said I want to go home I asked Chris White if Clark and rxy disclosed then that they believe that
Kim HCK was involved in this shooting they did and why didn't you then take their
word seriously and investigate to see if in fact they were correct I reviewed all
the evidence that we had with that hypothesis in mind okay um I'm not sure what investigation you think uh could
have been accomplished at that point in time when they told me that by the early 2000s Crosley was
being represented by attorneys from a Florida state agency that represents people on death row after getting wind
of the withheld evidence his new attorneys filed a motion and fought to get Chris White's file but the
prosecution pushed back refusing to hand it over claiming attorney client privilege why weren't these notes handed
over to the defense your notes they're my personal work notes there's a reason why crosley's lawyers wanted those notes
so badly and that reason goes back to a decades old US Supreme Court case known as Brady versus Maryland that case
requires prosecutors to disclose to the defense all material evidence all of it regardless of whether that evidence
supports the defendant's guilt or innocence with holding that evidence is now known as a Brady violation and can
lead to a conviction being thrown out and that's when Crosley began his yearslong battle to prove that
withholding those notes denied him a fair trial the problem he had to convince the court that those notes were
in fact material or crucial to the defense wouldn't this have been helpful for the defense to be able to ask more
questions about what they saw and heard at the scene well my recollection is that they have presented this argument
that this is exculpatory evidence that the defense was denied and that it would have made a difference the judge found
no it wouldn't and that's exactly what happened crosley's appeal was denied by a judge who ruled quote the purported
opinion of deputies rxy and Clark would not have been admissible at trial rxy and Clark's opinion were not considered
material under Brady and now an answer to something that might be troubling you it certainly bothered me why didn't mark
rxy or Diane Clark on their own go to the original defense lawyers and share their
thoughts well unless you're involved in a complete investigation you really have
to kind of stay out of it and once we did our job and turned it over to to the investigators were kind of pushed aside
once we talked to him and and gave him everything we could give him you know was kind of like
okay you can go now kind of thing and you know unless they call you and ask you to come in you really kind of keep
you keep your nose out of it because they don't even bothered prosecutors didn't just withhold information from
crosley's defense I asked prosecutor white about misstated evidence in the trial like the dog tracking evidence you
have been to the scene where the crime started and you have seen the shoe impressions of that person who came to
the truck who robbed them who abducted them who took them to that Grove and who shot chip you've seen those shoe
Impressions it wasn't just her and chip out there Mr White those shoe Impressions have never been connected to
Crosley green the defendant in this case ever remember Crosley admitted that he walked through the Orange Grove in
holder Park the night of the murder but holder Park was a well-traveled area and
there was a baseball game that night and yet the FDLE report found nothing at holder park or the Orange Grove that
implicated Crosley including those shoe prints in the hours after the murder in 1989 officials brought in a canine dog
named Zar to track the scent that led along the shoe prints left in the sand of the park if this was a
trailing dog that was trained for specific scent and they had uh Crosley green clothing in the Dog trail to the
murder site that would be potentially a compelling piece of evidence but following just fresh scent from one
location to another I would say has very limited um forensic uh value admittedly I knew
close to nothing about dog tracking and police cases so as part of our investigation for this podcast I wanted
to talk to an expert Professor Kenneth fton is the executive director of the global forensic and Justice Center at
Florida International University Professor fton is an expert in what is known as K9 old faction old
faction meaning sense of smell he told me in an investigation like this canines can either trust track or Trail ascent
and there's a difference the the tracking piece is really following um any uh person's scent so
it's just following human scent and it's typically the k9's trained to follow the
freshest uh set now Trail is often more often used for specific human set so dogs can be trained to follow a scent
article and so then if you have a article like a missing person or you have an article from a suspect you
present that to the dog and say uh was that person here and that's a separate trailing component because there was no
scent article available for Zar to Trail a specific scent the police dog handler
just had Zar track the freshest scent available they saw Footprints they follow them working towards the the tip
of the toe to the heel so they call it like backtracking following whether the assuming that person walked that way
will the dog follow the scent and the dog picked up a scent and followed it um and on soft ground it's pretty easy to
follow the scent and then it went onto harder surfaces onto concrete which becomes more difficult Zar was shown the
shoeprints and started tracking them South out of holder Park he followed the shoeprints from a dune area in the park
to the edge of the pave road but the shoeprints and Ed there so Zar continued to follow that scent until it led him to
the front of crosley's sister Tina's house where Crosley often stayed it was one of the most damaging pieces of
evidence presented at crosley's case during the 1990 murder trial the defense pointed out that the dog handler
stopped Zar because there were two dogs in Tina's front yard and that Zar never finished tracking the scent the dog
handler admitted that they stopped Zars tracking to prevent a conflict with the two dogs I asked Professor Fon if it was
proper procedure to stop tracking because of the presence of two dogs yeah I believe so it is appropriate
to stop because you don't want to get into an engagement um with a a well-trained police dog fighting with
two other dogs even if the even if Zar is not aggressive you don't know if those dogs are aggressive so I would
have stopped my dog at that point as well so we have no clue if Zar might have kept going if Tina's dogs weren't
in the front yard and not only that it's not clear what scent Zar was tracking yeah I mean he tracked asent the dog
tracked asent but it's not uh it's not descent after Zar tracked holder Park he was taken to the Orange Grove the side
of the murder and where the main struggle took place but zar was unable to pick up the holder Park scent in the
dog Handler's report they said quote the Orange Grove in the area was checked and
nobody had walked in the Grove in the last couple of days what if I tell you Dr fton that
they were never able to no matter how hard they tried to connect the suspect the defendant to those particular shoe
prints that they were following does that conc you yeah that would because canines are a great tool
to connect other pieces of evidence but not as the primary evidence that fresh scent could be anything right correct
the Kine wasn't following Descent of Crosley green they were following sent of somebody who could have been Crosley
green or another person it wasn't um there they're you know the canines are not used as a identification tool in
that role [Music] what is it going to take for people to understand that I didn't kill this young
man what is it going to take for me to get a fair Hearing in lower courts while crosley's attorneys were
fighting to get him a new trial the days stretch into weeks weeks evolved in into
months and months turned into years Crosley had been on death row since he was 33 years old now at the age of 49 he
had been living with a very real possibility of death by either lethal injection or the electric chair for 16
years life outside was moving on without him Crosley had long dreamed about the day he'd be reunited with his two sons
who are now grown men there's a lot of things I want to do but the first thing I want to
do is to get my sons take off and go somewhere just where we'll be together no one
else when we went and seen him he was on death row that's schuma Stokes crosley's
son and they just like you know just like it wasn't enough time in the day you know me and him my brother Gaston
Gap and my aun Tina we went and seen him and it just like when we got ready to leave it just was like you know sad you
know I ain't want to leave schuma was 16 and his brother Gaston who they call Gap
was six when their father was sent away I just ain't want to see him in that position did you worry that your dad
might be ex I mean yeah yeah and it's like wow this actually happening we hear these stories every day and we like oh
man a worri about but until it happened to yours then that's when you take notice and that's when you know it's for
real and then you find out there's really being some injustice being done and that's how it was you know I was
like I went off on the D in for a while and what about his brother Gaston my brother took it he took it to heart cuz
he was he he was young he was real young and for him to uh what he had to go through going through school being
picked at and not only him my cousins they went through it the downstream or collateral consequences of one person's
incarceration on his immediate and extended families on communities and even on society cannot be
understated it just it was rough for us to go through that you know cuz you got people calling your parent a murderer he
should die I mean killing I mean man we went through some sh we went through some
stuff and my brother man he man that messed him up yeah I mean that messed him up pretty bad even as an
adult schuma says he struggles to control his emotions alternating between anger loss and
despair by the mid 2000s Crosley Green's legal battle had spanned nearly two decades he was running out of options
but his luck was about to change crosley's attorney went before the Florida Supreme Court determined to get
Crosley off death row in the hearing his attorney told the court that during crosley's sentencing phase in
1991 the prosecution while seeking the death penalty wrongfully used a prior conviction for robbery that conviction
when Crosley was 18 had actually been vacated but Chris White still presented that prior felony to the jury and
Crosley was sentenced to death now crosley's attorney argued that the conviction should have remained
sealed because the judge ruled him a juvenile since he was younger than 19 and had erased the charge from his
record after years of appeals the Florida Supreme Court finally issued a ruling in 2007 upholding his conviction
but agreeing that there was an error in sentencing and that Crosley should be resentenced Crosley was now entitled to
a new hearing on sentencing but if he was going to get off death row he needed the best of the best the first moment I
met Crosley you know I met him and he came out in a orange jumpsuit Shackled hand ankle and around the waist meet
defense attorney Keith Harrison and we got we went into a little room that was it was probably
about 4T by 8T and I told him that we would do everything we could to get him out of
prison I didn't know it at the time but our 48 Hours report had caught the eye of officials at the American Bar
Association in 2008 the aba's death penalty project sent a copy of our report to Attorneys at cran Morin an
international law firm renowned for its diversity among its lawyers their mission to get get Crosley green off
death row on the case was Jean Thomas and Keith Harrison both Partners at crw and morningin in Washington
DC we looked at the record um and as a lawyer it it just made me so angry and we were just so offended that you know
such a gross Injustice had been done that we really wanted to really wanted to work on it Thomas has had a long
history of litigating postconviction death penalty cases Keith Harrison a former New York prosecutor focuses on
complex trials arbitration and investigations it's worth noting that Harrison is a black man and possibly the
only black lawyer to Ever represent Crosley green it was pretty clear to the lawyers on our team that this wasn't
just a case about the death penalty this was a case about actual innocence um so first we pursued what's
called habus relief in State Court postc conviction relief in State Court where you challenge the
constitutionality of the the trial uh and and the sentencing then on August 31st 2009 after 19 years facing
execution Crosley green attorneys won a major victory Florida's 18th Judicial Circuit Court resentenced Crosley to
life in prison when we got him off death row you know was was really a big high because that's
what we that was our number one goal when we took on the case most of us don't know how we're
going to die but we also don't have to live with death hanging over us at any time after Years of Living inside a 6ot
wide 9 foot long cell on death row crosy green finally could begin thinking of about a future how did he feel about
that for number one I felt relieved I felt relieved when I say I felt relieved I felt relieved for the fact that I do
not have to worry now about them signing my warant my warrant and I have to March
over there and be on Death Watch so I felt real good at that time that that was over with but I know
I have another 100 yards to go how optimistic are you now that you will ever get out of
here how ofous I am I've spent money quite a few years on death row so my best answer is that is
that I still got hope that one day I'm going to go free and I knew I'm going to go free in the
past Crosley told me that his State appointed lawyers rarely talked to him but over the course of fighting for his
release from Death Row Harrison and Thomas really got to know Crosley the man not just the inmate the first time I
met Crosley on death row you I told him you know what we were trying to do and that we were going to try to you know um
get him off death row and introduce myself uh and uh he said I'm just excited to see you and I'm I'm so glad
you're here and and I was like well you know he's had other postconviction lawyers and stuff I wasn't sure what he
was talking about and he said you know look you know I've I've been praying for God to send me you know somebody that's
going to you know help me I I prayed to God Send Me an Angel and I know you're that
angel um um and when somebody says something like that to you you know it's a it sets you back a little bit which is
why they all stayed on crosley's case even after getting him off death row and are now working on it pro
bono this is uh the only case I pray about and I pray about it almost every day i' look at this case as not a weight
but an opportunity an opportunity to do justice to do the right thing for someone who really really deserves you
know everything I can and my firm can give him so um I just look at it as an opportunity and I'm just going to keep
trying to press every button pull every lever and do everything I can to um you know to win his
freedom Keith Harrison thinks and has told the court that we're witnessing a case of what is known as a racial hoax a
racist narrative as old as time this is not just a simple case of mistaken identity that the wrong person got
picked out of a lineup on the next episode of Murder in the Orange Grove the troubled case against Crosley green
all of the evidence points to the fact that there was no third person at the scene of the crime there was an accident
it would be fair to conclude and she made up a story after the fact it's unfortunately a classic case of what is
often referred to as a racial hoax which is a black guy did it something went wrong a witness said oh a black guy did
it and the prosecution pursued that theory of the case when Crosley green was released from
Death Row in 2009 it was a major victory but it didn't erase almost two decades of trauma death row had taken a toll on
crosley's Mental Health when I say I was a mess I was a mess I got bad nerves behind it I got the shakes behind it
because that wasn't no joke that wasn't no joke it affected his relationships with the family members he
had left behind I missed him so much not being there to see him grow up you know
and having them to see me in that position at times was painful to me it was painful still behind bars with a
life sentence he spent a lot of time thinking about his situation and said his case was not unique what I mean that
there have been cases where innocent people have been accused of crimes that they didn't
[Music] commit all of the evidence points to the fact that there was no third person at
the scene of the crime that's one of crosley's lawyers Jean Thomas to the contrary it suggests that the these two
teenagers were alone they were exboyfriend and girlfriend there was an accident it would be fair to conclude
and she made up a story after the fact remember that Kim and Chip were exes and Chip had a new girlfriend Kim testified
that she and Chip discussed Chip's relationship with that new girlfriend the night of the murder and that the
relationship made her upset here's CR other lawyer Keith Harrison this is not just a simple case
of mistaken identity that the wrong person got picked out of a lineup this is a case um it's it's uh unfortunately
a classic case of what is often referred to as a racial hoax which is a black guy
did it I'm 48 hours corespondent eron morard this is murder in the orang Grove the
troubled case against Crosley Green episode 6 the other [Music] men Crosley you were in court when Kim
looked at you in that courtroom pointed her finger at you and said this is the man who robbed and kidnapped me what was
your reaction she points to you what's what was my reaction was that uh why who told her to say something
like this and a ain't true why would she get up there and say it the way she said
and it's not true our society is really guilty of this perception that just because a a white female says a black
man has committed a crime we take that as gospel this is Bill Gary the president of the north Bard County
branch of the NAACP we introduced him to you in episode 4 I asked him about the possibility that Crosley could be a
victim of a racial hoax I think you can go back and and look at any number of U situations where that was the
circumstances and what happened to those persons there I mean I could go down the
line of different cases a racial FES is when a person is accused of a crime often falsely because
of the person's race one of the best known examples the case of 14-year-old EMT till who in 1955 was lynched after
being accused of wolf whistling at a white woman her claims in 1955 led to Till's kidnapping his murder and really
became a pivotal moment in the modern civil rights movement and Susan Smith up in uh South Carolina who claimed that a
black man had uh hijacked her car in a tragic ending to a 9-day ordeal authorities pull Susan Smith's car and
the bodies of her two small children out of a nearby lake bed and now officials have confirmed that Susan has
perpetrated a cruel and tragic hoax the situation in New York when the man was in the park bird watching there
is an African-American man I in he is recording me threatening myself and my dog and
my I'm sorry I can't hear who either I'm being threatened by a man in the ramble
please send the cops immediately if you are poor and black or brown you are much
more likely to be caught up in that justice system and not receive justice so could have Crosley ended up
behind bars as a result of a racial hoax it it certainly appears that that Mr Green has
been uh one falsely accused and two is that the criminal justice system has not been fair to him it certainly seems that
there is uh an amount of meanness that uh has permitted that case from beginning to present day
Bill's not just talking about racial hoaxes now but specific issues with the state attorney's office in bravard
County remember bill has lived in Bard County for 50 years he's actively involved in community nonprofits and is
not just familiar with crosley's case but many of the cases that have passed through the state attorney's office go
back in the history of prosecutions and cases here here in bid County and I think it becomes apparent that there has
been questionable methods used to uh exact convictions in many cases questionable methods also played a big
role in the wrongful convictions of three other Bard County men Juan Ramos Bill Dylan and Wilton
dege in 1983 Juan Ramos was convicted of a rape and murder in Bard County Ramos was prosecuted by Christopher white the
same assistant State Attorney who prosecuted Crosley green Ramos was also sentenced to death for the crimes based
in part on testimony from a jailhouse informant who offered his testimony in exchange for a lighter sentence on a
series of crimes he had been accused of there was also evidence from a dog handler who was later discredited as a
fraud although this was not the same dog handler used in crosley's case Ramos's conviction was reversed in
1986 and he was acquitted in a retrial less than a year later bill Dylan had a similar story it was a nightmare it was
horrifying and I don't use that word lightly it was horrifying in 1981 8 years before Crosley was arrested Dylan
was a 20-year-old athlete whose biggest concern was trying to land a spot on the
Detroit Tigers a professional baseball team but before he was able to go on his second try out he was accused of
murdering a man in a wooded area near Kenova beach in Bard County the killer in that case was described by witnesses
as around 510 with a mustache and how tall are you I'm 6'4 and I never ever had a mustache when I met Bill Dylan I
couldn't help but feel there was a deep sadness in him almost like he couldn't believe or accept what had happened to
him once a rising star in baseball maybe even a contender for the major leagues his murder conviction irreparably
damaged him and completely changed the trajectory of his life I also couldn't help but noticed
that a pattern seemed to be emerging here the same discredited dog handler who testified in Ramos's trial also
testified at Dylan's claiming that his dog was able to track Dylan scent across the highway to the crime scene even
after a hurricane had come through the area and like in crosley's case prosecutors found Witnesses who said
they saw Dylan wearing clothes that match those worn by the killer a bloody yellow t-shirt and again like in
crosley's case someone close to Dylan testified against him at trial for Dylan it was an
ex-girlfriend Donna Parish eventually came to my trial and said that she saw me standing over the body
putting on a pair of pants I guess because some reason the killer had supposed to be had long pants
or something or whatever I'm not sure how devastating was that testimony uh it was it was really to me in my mind it
was very very devastating when she dropped that bombshell on me in that courtroom I was highly upset I'll tell
you that right now first of all she was lying and second of all my lawyer didn't
seem to see what was coming there and which really irritated me to a point and I what I really couldn't understand Aram
was how were they able to just lie like that and just get away with it Donna Parish recanted her testimony less than
a month after the trial she said that she had been pressured to lie in her own mind because she had been
threatened with 25 years for murder accessory to murder but Dylan still served more than 27 years in
prison before Tess showed the DNA found on that Bloody yellow shirt belonged to someone else he was released on November
18th 2008 I used to think while I was in prison sitting there what did I do or what what went wrong or who tried to
cross me up in this and then I realized it was like a program to me it was like that some certain person had sort of
turned a switch and just said okay convict him it doesn't matter we just need to get some people or him off the
street no matter whether I was innocent or guilty and then there's the case of Wilton dege in 1982 20-year-old dedge
was convicted of committing a brutal rape in bravard County despite the fact that the victim described her attacker
as 6 feet tall dege was only 5'5 that same discredited dog handler claimed that his dog detected de's scent
in the victim's home and Christopher white prosecuted that case they got me and they started building a case around
me they pull off the dog off the shelf well we really don't have any evidence let's bring in this guy he'll he'll make
the evidence for us you know and it seems that they've they've become a habit of doing it and it it really needs
to stop and again it was DNA evidence that finally proved de's innocence over two decades later he was released from
prison in August of 2004 um it was a lot of anger I mean and then the stuff I had to deal with in
there the people the atmosphere the guards the confinement uh uh I lost a lot of course hindsight is 2020 but it
seemed peculiar to me that so many cases in a relatively small County would later
be overturned for problematic evidence I feel that it's a terrible thing that an
innocent person would be put behind bars in 2015 I asked former prosecutor Christopher white how he felt about
helping to put Wilton Edge behind bars for years only to find out later that he was the wrong man and I don't like being
a part of that if that occurred but we presented the evidence it laid out like it did and it went the way it did and
all I could do is uh tell him that I was sorry that it worked out the way it does
I pressed white further but what about the fact that Wilton's Edge didn't even fit the original description of the are
we going to talk about will de because if we are going to leave I mean this is about I thought it was cros leering it
is but but you do know that the Innocence Project of of Florida has accused bravard County and your office
the office you worked in of creating a culture of corruption including they have probably accused most every office
in the United States of something similar Wilton Ed Bill Dylan and Juan Ramos were all wrongfully convicted and
exonerated years later but all three men also have another thing in common they were not black this is Bill Gary again
they were wrongly accused and prosecuted and thankfully they were able to get the
kind of legal representation that they needed to prove their innocence but many black men have not been able to do that
and and and that continues [Music] today in June of 2009 crosley's new lawyers from the DC firm croll and Morin
retained a private investigator to go down to bravard county and do some digging on crosley's case the
investigator tracked down two new two witnesses who claimed to have seen Crosley the night of the murder and
backed up his Alibi that he was at the house of his ex-girlfriend Lori Reigns his lawyers argued that Crosley was
entitled to a new trial based on newly discovered evidence including those two new Alibi Witnesses okay is everybody
ready to go yes sh are we're ready to proceed yes Ma on May 27th 2011 Crosley and and his lawyers arrived at a bravard
County Courthouse for an evidentiary hearing now 53 years old Crosley appeared thin and frail in this hearing
the judge would not be looking at the case in its entirety just the New Evidence raised by crosley's
lawyers up first to testify 36-year-old Brandon Wright good morning Mr Wright if
you come right over here to be warn that's good Brandon was currently serving over 21
years on a drug conviction and wore shackles around his wrists and ankles as he gave his testimony on the stand but
back in 1989 Brandon Wright was just a 14-year-old boy living in Mims Keith Harrison questioned him about seeing
Crosley at Lori Rain's house the night of the murder beginning approximately what time
did you see Mr Green at Lori Reigns's house on the evening of April 3rd 1989 uh I think it was uh about 11
1115 Brandon corroborated what Lori Reigns had always said that Crosley could not have committed the murder of
Chip Flynn because he was at her house at the time it took place what were you doing at lloy Reigns's house at around
11 11:15 on the evening of April 3rd well I was at Lor R's house because that's where we sell drugs
from um now were you selling drugs that evening yes sir I was he testified that he saw Crosley
leave Lor's house a few times that night but only to walk back and forth to his cousin caren's house which was close by
this was new and important information no witness at crosley's original trial had shared that he was walking back and
forth between the two houses so yeah I seen him constantly throughout the night you know being there cuz it's a straight
shot you can see Colleen back door from Lor's front door so you know can you describe for the court approximately how
far the distance is from Lorie rang's house to um Carling Brothers house just approximately I'll say about 50 60 yards
so they're in very close proximity yes Harrison wanted to emphas EMP iiz that even with Crosley walking back and
forth between the two houses Brandon had eyes on Crosley for most of the night he
was never out of my sight for that long to go to no hold Park let alone kidnap somebody and kill him Brandon testified
that the last time he saw Crosley was at 300 a.m. and that just a few hours later
he had seen police in the neighborhood with a sketch that they were saying match Papa green and were asking where
to find him like ain't nobody back then would really just even talk to the police cuz that's just how it was you
know I mean the police Wen there to help they was there to you know to hurt in his cross-examination
Christopher white asked Brandon about his history with selling drugs how was it that you at the age of 14 could run a
drug business what how did that work uh I mean to be in the streets and the sell drugs
is not hard like it sells itself and he pushed Brandon on why he didn't come forward back in
1989 with his information well that day when the police came the day after the murder the police came of course you
were scared of the police so you didn't help them find Crosley you didn't tell them anything about knowing anything
about Crosley right no they never asked right and you and you saw him there and you knew it they were doing but you
weren't about to go volunteer any information uh they never asked me Brandon said the
police never asked them about Crosley green so he never told them what he had witnessed the second new Alibi witness
to testify was 39-year-old Reginal Peters like Brandon Reginal had been convicted of multiple felonies in his
lifetime he was currently in the custody of The Bard County Jail Lori Reigns was his aunt and he had
been living with her in the spring of 1989 Keith Harrison's colleague Robert Road question Reginal about the night of
chipain's murder when did you first see Mr Green uh that evening approximately what time
did you say prob 11: 11 at night 11: 10 11 10 or 11: p.m. re testified that he was also
walking between Lori Reigns and carlen brothers houses the night of Chin's murder and that he saw Crosley at both
locations between 10 or 11 at night and 4:30 a.m. the next morning was Mr Green there um that
entire time period when I say there I'm referring to either Miss Reigns's home miss brother's home are in the field in
between yes sir like Brandon Reginald didn't share what he had witnessed with police back in
1989 because he said he was never questioned the state also called a witness James scrag a former police
chief who was currently employed with the state attorney's office James testified that he and Christopher White
had met up just a few weeks earlier to establish timings between key locations from the night of the murder we we spent
the morning in the Mims Titusville area we approximately eight routes and I kept
times for those routes James said that he and Christopher white drove several routes including the distance from the
ball field at holder Park to crosley's Sister Tina's house how long did it take for us to drive that actually one minute
they also drove from Tina's house to the intersection near the Orange Grove where
chip fim was shot white ask grg about how long the drive took the elapse time was 5 minutes and 27 seconds
white was highlighting that these key locations holder Park Tina's house the Orange Grove and Lori rain's home were
only a few minutes Drive apart but in his cross-examination Keith Harrison pointed
out a key detail you don't know whether Mr Green even owns a vehicle do you no sir now um
in your work um with Mr White did you ever walk any of these distances no sir why wouldn't they walk any of the
routes even if the as salent had arrived at holder Park in a car Kim said that they the asent Kim and Chip had all
driven to the Orange Grove together in Chip's pickup truck which Kim then drove off to escape at the very least the as
salent would have had no choice but to walk out of the Orange Grove and but you don't know how long would have taken him
to walk any of the distances in any of the exhibits that um that you've prepared for us today no sir I would
have no idea about a month after the final session after reviewing all the evidence
as well as an affidavit submitted by crosley's lawyers from a third new Alibi witness Randy Brown who also said he saw
Crosley the night of the murder the judge made his ruling Crosley green would not be granted a new
trial here's some of what Christopher white later told me about why the judge reached that decision what he said was
that the testimonies of Wright Peters and brown do not establish the defendant was somewhere else when Flynn was
murdered the defendant could have committed the offenses in the above styled case and still been seen by
Wright Peters and brown at Lori Brown's house he meant Lori Reigns given the proximity of the crime scene to the
mim's housing project the testimonies of Wright Peters and brown arguably even further support the state's case because
they plac the defendant near the crime scene around the time the crimes were committed just a few weeks after that
ruling Christopher white retired he was quoted in a press release from the state
attorney's office as saying I enjoy a challenge and this work has certainly been that but more than that
I've had the privilege of Seeking Justice for people who were wronged Keith Harrison had always
planned to take his case to the federal level if unsuccessful in state courts in
Florida so in November 2011 Harrison went to federal court and filed what is called a petition for habius Corpus
seeking to get crosley's conviction overturned if you haven't realized it by by now appealing a conviction is a
tedious frustrating timeconsuming process the federal court dismissed crosley's Federal petition as premature
because at the time he was still in the midst of State Court proceedings so crosley's attorneys had to wait another
3 years until the state filings and motions were complete before refiling the habus petition in 2014
here's attorney Jean Thomas about why she felt so strongly about crosley's case the first sentence of our petition
is this is a case about innocence and what we really want the court to do is to you know have the judge roll up his
sleeves and read into this case and take a hard look at the evidence and and you
know make a decision that there that there were dramatic constitutional violations here and uh order a new trial
for Crosley as a former prosecutor it's incredibly difficult to write a brief um that suggests
prosecutorial misconduct it's the last thing that really I or any of us wanted to
do the problem with this case is that whether you view it in isolation just the facts of this case or put it in the
broader context of the Ramos D and Dylan cases it's hard to ignore the pattern the prosecution and the police seem to
do the wrong thing again and again and again at the heart of the habius petition those notes taken by
Christopher white at his meeting with officers Mark rxy and Diane Clark notes that he never turned over to crosley's
original defense those notes came up in our last episode in an appeal at the state level that appeal was denied but
now there was hope that the federal appeal would have a different outcome what was your reaction when you first
read those notes I I was shocked my jaw dropped um I really couldn't believe it I knew
immediately that this was a game Cher I mean there are a lot of things wrong with this case
but this the notes really stood out to us right from the start as um something that it would be hard for a court to
ignore the state has an obligation a constitutional obligation to turn over any materials that might be considered
exculpatory that might help Crosley in his defense those notes certainly are considered exculpatory material and the
prosecutor failed to turn them again crosley's attorneys are referring to that requirement established by the
US Supreme Court that prosecutors hand over quote exculpatory material to the defense evidence that showed Crosley was
not guilty of the crime it's probably the most important document in the entire case um because it's a document
that points the finger at someone other than crley as being the person who committed this heinous crime instead it
was buried it was withheld and it was only uh came to light 20 years later crosley's attorneys argue that by
withholding crucial evidence those notes Christopher White had committed a Brady
violation but while their habus petition might sound promising crosley's lawyers
were quick to tell me that it was no golden ticket out of prison it's a huge uphill climb and we've told Cy this and
he he recognizes it um but the overwhelming majority of habus petitions are denied U many of them are denied you
know just out of hand but the odds are stacked against anyone who is trying to overturn their conviction so why is that
because appeals court judges don't go back and look at the entire case they only look at whether the trial judge or
the prosecutors did something that denied Crosley a fair trial it's a very high bar to meet and there are many
hurdles to clear along the way there's this old saying it's easy to get in and it's hard to get
out you understand and that's what I'm going through it was easy to get in but look how hard it is for me to get
[Music] out I met with Crosley for a second time back in 2015 this time at Hardy Correctional
Institution he had been a model inmate at Hardy since being transferred there over 5 years earlier and had picked up a
job in maintenance we had written to each other over the years but it had now been over 15 years since our last face-
to-face meeting on death row it was also now 25 years since his murder conviction
crosy was 57 years old with grain hair and a closely crossed beard did you think we'd forget you no I
knew you didn't forget me all right come on have a seat over here we were preparing a second broadcast on Crosley
story as a reporter I try not to get too close to anyone I want to be able to view the information with a clear and
impartial lens but I admit that this was the interview I was most looking forward
to I was finally back in Florida to see Crosley I showed him some old pictures of his family they don't look that way
now they full of great I bet I bet well we've all gotten older Crosley I hate to
say there was a notable difference in Crosley this time around a lightness well it's interesting you know
when I saw you 15 years ago you said to me you were really angry yes how do you feel now how it feel now I'm
joyful I'm hopeful I'm happy I'm not sad or nothing like that how do you explain
that my family my sisters my brother a few people WR me Christian peoples or what not could you
hear what he said clearly crosley's lawyers and family were no longer the only ones in contact with him Crosley
was hearing from a lot of people including other Christians he attributed the change I saw in him to his faith
that's what carried me through a lot of this by by me accepting God at an early time real hard and I just changed at
that time you know and that change been ever since then until now on May 30th 2015 the second 48 Hours broadcast on
the Crosley green case air telling a new generation of viewers about his story I'm Aon morti tonight on 48
hours last chance for Freedom the broadcast also featured crosley's latest hope for his case that
habus petition filed in federal court the federal court could uphold Crosley Green's conviction overturn it or
declined to review it it's his last chance for freedom and all Crosley green can do now is
wait that broadcast made more people aware and invested in crosley's case I began receiving mail and more
importantly so did Crosley and finally on January 22nd 2016 more than a year and a half after
the hius corpus petition was filed US District Judge Roy Dalton Jr made his ruling he denied the
appeal on a technicality he said the petition was filed too late that it should have been submitted
back in 2011 which if you remember was when Keith Harrison originally filed the petition but was told then it was
premature too early and then too late crosley's case was stuck in an aggravating legal Quagmire of red tape
and technicalities crosley's lawyers fought the judge's decision for almost a year
finally arguing in front of a federal court of appeals that the petition was properly filed
after so many disappointments I feared this hearing would not go any differently for Crosley so you can
imagine my shock when I read that the appeals court this time reversed the lower Court's ruling opening the door
for crosley's appeal to finally move forward in 2018 Crosley was finally able to file a
case in federal court a victory in itself although the odds that a judge would overturn crosley's conviction were still
slim well it's extremely rare there are thousands of petitions filed by people seeking to overturn
their convictions every year and it's only a very small percentage um that ever get
granted but Against All Odds crosley's petition was one of them denial after denial one loss after
another Crosley Green's murder conviction was finally overturned we had a federal judge rulle
that Crawley green had been wrongfully and unconstitutionally convicted over 30 years ago it was a miracle that finally
there was a court that actually looked not at the procedural hurdles but actually looked at the merits of
crosley's case and what went wrong in the trial court and said yes his constitutional rights were violated your
right this evidence was critical to the defense it should not have been withheld
from the defense team it should not have been withheld from the jury and that um
in light of all of that uh he's entitled to a new trial crosley's lawyers called him impr
prison to tell him the news I was choked up it was through a phone call and I was
choked up I couldn't believe it really and I I was at lost words finally won uh a point of of
getting a trial that's what you've always really wanted isn't it that's all I really
wanted a new trial yes Ma'am why I just want to I want you just want the truth to come
out okay I just want the truth to come out I had seen many versions of Crosley over the years on death row he had been
an angry man during his decades in prison he had aged and become a man of faith and now at 60 years old I am the
real CR de green the one that very humble and love peoples love being around peoples you
know a person that can get along with anyone the state had n 90 days to either appeal this decision or retry Crosley if
it didn't either Crosley could finally be released from prison Justice and freedom it seemed were right around the
corner every day since I've had that that ruling from the judge I've been thinking about going
home be my family I'm just hoping and praying that they comes soon [Music] in the next episode of Murder in the
Orange Grove the troubled case against Crosley green I called his brother OK Conor who couldn't even speak he was
crying and we let the family know they hit the road they had to drive all the way across the state about 5 hours and
then Jean and I decided Well you know there's one chance one flight that might get us there in time so we rushed to
make that flight and it was really [Music] surreal hey long time OC how you doing
I'm good how are you I'm fine you're going you look good you look really good thank you thank you you know mhm in
February 2020 I made yet another trip to Florida my third to catch up with Crosley green it had been 5 years since
I had last seen and spoken to him face to face I couldn't let go of crosley's case I couldn't get it out of my head it
had been 21 years since I first started reporting on it and here I Was preparing
another installment for 48 hours you and I have been seeing each other a long time 99 I think 99 yeah so a little over
20 years see I was really looking forward to this yes I wish too it was hard to believe but almost 2
years have passed since crosley's murder conviction had been overturned by a federal judge in
2018 overturned thrown out I'd hope that by now I'd be catching up with Crosley maybe at a cookout with his many family
members and maybe Crosley would show me around Mims Florida his hometown and we could check out his
church Crosley should have been out celebrating his freedom but instead we were meeting again in a Florida prison
this time Calhoun Correctional Institution a long 5-hour drive from his home what do you want people to know
about Crosley green the Crosley Green in 2020 30 years 31 years that's enough to break a man
that's enough to destroy a man but I want the people to know that I'm not destroyed I'm not down I'm still
[Music] alive that was really important to Crosley to let me know he wasn't a Broken Man even after all the
heartbreaking disappoint o ments over the last 31 years this podcast Series has delved deeply into many of them when
I went to see Crosley in 2020 he was 62 years old and he had spent half his life
in prison and in some ways this was the cruestv devopment of all crosley's prayers had been heard and Against All
Odds his conviction had been overturned and yet he remained Behind Bars how is Crosley not free
already I'm 48 Hours correspondent Aaron Mor yardi this is murder in the Orange Grove the trouble case against Crosley
Green episode 7 free at [Music] last in 2018 Crosley green finally won a rare bu but major victory when a federal
judge overturned his conviction the judge had agreed with crosley's attorneys that former assistant State
Attorney Chris White who handled crosley's 1990 trial had violated crosley's constitutional rights when he
withheld crucial notes from the defense information like that is very powerful and it it would be explosive to
introduce it into court this is Kenneth nun he's a visiting law professor at Howard University who also served on the
Florida innocence commission a group that suggests changes to Florida law to avoid wrongful convictions I would
assume there are people sitting in prison right now actually Innocent but because they can't prove that either the
prosecutor made an error or withheld evidence or the judge did they're just going to sit there for the rest of their
lives yes or their defense attorney because they may have been the one to make the error as well so if you can't
show there was an error that was made by somebody then you can sit in prison for
the rest of your life Professor nun knows crosley's case well and we met up recently to talk about its NeverEnding
twists nun said that prosecutors are obligated to turn over evidence like the notes in this case he said it's
fundamental to our criminal legal system which hinges on due process finally he got his convict
overturned how unusual is it to get that kind of ruling well that's if you have a
federal court after many many levels of State review to look at the case and say
there was a conviction it happened 30 years ago but it shouldn't have happened and to correct that that is not an
everyday occurrence in the criminal legal system so it's a big deal a really big deal because with that
ruling in the eyes of the law Crosley green was once again an innocent man and yet he remained Behind Bars nearly 2
years later in 2020 Crosley wasn't released immediately why not judges want to make sure that
the community is protected and that people who committed a crime actually receive the punishment that they are due
so they're going to give the prosecution an opportunity to show that there was a
problem in the case after the federal judges ruling the state had 90 days to decide whether to retry crosley's case
which is what Crosley was hoping for or to appeal the decision the state decided
to appeal all Crosley green has wanted through all these years is a new trial correct I mean we have seen everything
that went wrong wrong with his trial including this very questionable photo lineup all the witnesses who recanted
their testimony contradictions in the only eyewitnesses testimony why wasn't he given a new
trial at that point it's a very big hurdle for the prosecution to win a case after 30 years if they're
thinking we're going to have a new trial then we have to call witnesses that may
not be alive at this point 30 years later we might not be able to find whose memories may have dissipated and they
have the burden approved it's much easier for them to say okay we'll just have an appeal we're going to kill some
trees and send some papers up and have another Court look at this and then that will make a decision it just seems like
there's so many obstacles to have someone just take another look at this case Congress and federal courts are
more concerned with preserving convictions than they are concerned with making sure that innocent people get
released from prison while the state pursued an appeal everything was put on hold
including crosley's release the same federal judge who overturned his conviction also ruled that Crosley had
to stay in prison for the appeals process even though I should point out here C cley was a model prisoner the
assistant Warden at Calhoun Correctional told me that Crosley had a near perfect
record and yet he remained in prison it was a devastating blow to Crosley and his family and for his
attorneys Keith Harrison and Jean Thomas it was perpetuating the wrongful incarceration of an innocent
man I actually think it's a tragedy um that he remains in prison Crosley at this point is innocent until proven
guilty if it were the original trial there's the Speedy Trial Act which guarantees that the trial must take
place within a certain amount of time but on appeal and on these postconviction proceedings there's no
clock running so now the fact that we have a decision that he was wrongfully convicted and he is entitled to a new
trial it's incredibly frustrating that there's nothing to make the process happen faster since he's
been sitting there waiting for his day in court again what has he lost well he's lost family members and it was very
hard on him in part because he had historically played the role of a father figure in their family he still thinks
of himself in that role and it was extremely hard for him not to be there for uh his family at you know their time
of grieving the the the closest two are my two sisters you know both of them Brenda
and Tina and they was like back to back within two years of each other you know couldn't go to their funeral couldn't go
to F that's been tough that's been tough you've lost a lot yep while Crosley remained in prison and
separated from his family his case still inched forward in March 2020 the lawyers
on both sides argued in front of the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals in Jacksonville
Florida how much is right on that hearing literally everything if the court rules in our
favor and says the district court got it right when it ruled that Crosley had been wrongfully convicted then we will
immediately move for his release and the state will have a limited period of time
to retry him or or decide not to retry him um which is certainly the state's option
but there's also the chance that the appeals court would side with the state of Florida and reinstate crosley's
conviction keeping Crosley in prison for a life sentence there was so much writing on
this hearing and yet Crosley himself was not allowed to go to Jacksonville to witness the oral arguments but his
family showed up in full force including cluding his younger sister Sheila who had once testified against him at trial
and his sister Shirley they had gone after work driven through the night to get there in time for the morning
hearing surley led the family in a prayer ask for our brother Freedom oh heavenly father in the name of Jesus
amen amen the focus of this hearing those crucial notes that former prosecutor Christopher white took at after meeting
with First Responders Diane Clark and Mark rxy 31 years ago when they told him that they question Kim H's story from
the start we're going to be focused on what the impact would have been if the government had not
hidden these notes 13524 Crosley Alexander green versus the secretary of the Florida Department of
Correction on March 12th 2020 the hearing opened with Assistant Attorney General Kelly
nean addressing the 11th Circuit Court we are here appealing an order where a district court granted a new trial to Mr
Crosley green based on an alleged Brady violation by the state you listening to a court recording of some of the hearing
we believe that the District Court's factual findings are clearly erroneous nean argued that the notes withheld from
crosley's defense team pointing to Kim HCK were simply opinions of First Responders not evidence they
administered first aid to the dying victim they collected a firearm they roped off the scene and that's all they
had to do with this case she added that both Clark and rxy had been deposed before the trial and they hadn't
disclosed this information either but defense attorney Keith Harrison argued that the notes were crucial to crosley's
defense and would have changed the course of the trial they were all deposed but those depositions would have
been completely different if these notes would have been disclosed these notes would have been a game changer in this
clip you'll also hear the voice of visiting Circuit Judge William Traxler are you saying that prior to trial
defense council did not know what the two detectives thought absolutely these officers in these notes were trying to
paint a picture for the prosecutor that they had the wrong man and that the investigation was going in the wrong
direction defense had no idea about any of that after the hearing crosley's family was hopeful I asked attorney
Keith Harrison if he was as optimistic what's the best case here the court rules in our favor and at that point we
would move for cr's immediate release from prison [Music] [Music] crley green had won a big decision in
federal court but because the State of Florida appealed it his future dependent on what the court of appeals decided his
attorneys as I mentioned went before the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals on March 12th
2020 but there was no timeline for when the appella Court needed to make a ruling and in this case the timing
couldn't have been worse for Crosley green we are going to begin right now with breaking news because the World
Health Organization has declared the Corona virus outbreak a pandemic citing alarming levels of of all the ups and
downs in crosley's case a global pandemic was truly something no one could have [Music]
predicted no one wants to get sick in prison even if you have picture perfect health but by 2020 Crosley was in his
early 60s and had developed some health issues here again is defense attorney Keith Harrison so while in prison
Crosley uh was tested and it was determined that he had latent uh tuberculosis which means it's not active
but it does pose an increased risk if he were to contract covid getting crosy out
of prison was no longer just about Justice it was about saving his life at the time the State of Florida published
the number of covid deaths that happened within its Prison Walls and I remembered
reading those reports anxiously as the numbers kept going up and up on April 18th 2020 48 Hours released
its broadcast on Crosley green we had hoped that our report would push his case forward but remember we were in the
middle of a pandemic and everything had stopped but when the pandemic dragged on
yet another year crosley's attorneys took action in March of 2021 they filed an emergency motion asking for crosley's
immediate release due to the threat of covid-19 while they waited for the decision they asked the secretary of the
Department of Corrections to act due to quote increased risk of serious illness or even death from
covid-19 and added quote if Mr Green should meet that same fate while awaiting the 11 circuit's decision it
will be a miscarriage of justice of unconscionable proportions on April 7th 2021 phone
started ringing and pinging at the croll and moing law firm in Washington DC it was a whirlwind of a day my phone
started just blowing up and I looked at it and you know it was a text that said we did it crosley's going to be released
the court directed us to inform the warden to release Crosley as quickly as possible I have never seen an order like
that even though attorneys Keith Harrison and Jean Thomas had worked toward Crosley Green's freedom for 13
years this was such a surprising development a moment they both dreamed of and now it was happening Crosley
green was finally going to be released from prison and they had to act quickly I called his brother OK Conor
who couldn't even speak he was crying we let the family know they hit the road they had to drive all the way across the
state about 5 hours then Jean and I decided Well you know there's one flight that might get us there in time so we
rushed to make that flight and it was really surreal I remember hearing the news and immediately getting on the
phone afterward furiously searching for a camera crew that could get to Florida Crosley was going to be stepping out of
prison in just a few hours the gates opened and Crosley stepped out and he had two bags in his hand one bag was
filled with books and the other was filled with all of his uh court papers later that day at 1 p.m. in a dimly lit
parking lot crosley's family Harrison along with Thomas and other members of crosley's legal team stood outside of
Calhoun Correctional Institution waiting and watched a familiar figure walk out of the gate
Crosley was finally leaving prison and he stepped out and he paused for a moment um and he kind of looked up at
the sky and he looked around I mean he was trying to take it all in and then he looked at me and he dropped his
bags and we embraced we didn't say a word we both shed some tears um but eventually we we released
and I said Cy there's some other folks here who want to hug [Music] you a local cameraman we hired was there
to capture this big moment What's going through your head okay okay okay um I can't wait to see the rest of my family
that's what's going my here get to see my I want to see my kids my grand kids after nearly 32 years behind bars
Crosley green was released from prison due to concern over his age and health issues but it was only a temporary
release the appeals process was still underway and if Crosley lost the appeal there was still a looming chance he
would have to return to prison but the federal judge who had overturned his conviction decided that for the time
being he could wait at home home with his family crosley's Freedom had been decades in the making but his actual
release happened over the course of just a day I knew this day was going to come
but I couldn't tell you when I just gave it to the Lord and let him do I was on his wheel having faith and uh I had a
lot of faith in that I he was going to do this for me tell me glad you're home we glad to see this
day Lord thank you Jesus thank you it was it was incredible I mean tears were flowing the the family was you know just
screaming and crying and um it it was just uh glorious it it it was so joyous it was like a clash where Crawley
just basically ran into the arms of his screaming family it's a moment that I'll
never forget this day this is the day that we long for God we thank you Father God right now in advance for you
bringing our brother home Crosby green father crosley's famili stood in a circle with Crosley in the middle and
Keith right next to him all holding hands they set a prayer in Jesus name we pray amen amen amen amen thank you Jesus
amen the next day crosley's legal team held a press conference first of all uh I want to thank
God I want to thank God that I'm standing here today as a free man I want to thank my
La for being the possible it's hard to really put in the words of my feeling at right now but my
feelings are so so strong as of being a free man today Crosley was released on a
Wednesday night and was staying at his brother-in-law's house I got there 3 days later for his first interview as a
free man daddy how you doing it was a sunny day a bit windy and his family was all around us having a big barbecue the
food was plentiful music was playing in the background and everyone was feeling good a especially Crosley as I walked up
to him he looked the most relaxed and happy that I had ever seen oh my God hey can I hug you can I hug you I
have have this time oh my God thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you thank
you I can't believe this I cannot believe this you know that first time when I met you yeah you were in a very
different place do you remember that yes oh my God you look great you look great
thank you you look great though you're still looking good girl remember the first time I met Crosley he was on death
row but this time we were in the fresh air it was such a good feeling to finally be sitting in a lawn chair under
a Florida Sky across from a man I had only seen previously in shackles and instead of a prison uniform Crosley was
dressed in a t-shirt and shorts I started the interview the same way I did for the past 21 years by asking Crosley
to introduce himself ah cley been 32 years for Crime I didn't committ and now I'm free for a
little while at least but I'm free and what does that feel like so sweet so so sweet
when you were sitting in calhon and you were imagining getting out what was the first thing you wanted
to do had me a painting out ice cream really I got it for years Crosley had craved
something that most of us take for granted a scoop of strawberry ice cream so on his first full day of freedom
Crosley went to an ice cream parlor with him were some of his grandchildren he my
two favorite babies here I'm glad to be home with how you feel bu good you feel good
okay okay and what did it taste like oh man so good was that really the first time that
bean free sunk in yeah I was able to get what I want I don't think I fully appreciated
what Freedom really meant until I spoke with Crosley that day for over three decades he was unable to make any
decisions for himself what to eat or when to eat it when to take a shower or for how long but on this day Crosley was
finally able to do what he wanted when he wanted to do it he finally had the power to choose something for himself
I've also been interviewing several of crosley's relatives for decades but until this moment I hadn't had a chance
to meet his extended family and it's a big one tell me who every you know who everybody is here this is uh my great
nephew this is my great niece this is my granddaughter I got another granddaughter here Crosley was meeting
some of his relatives for the first time you did miss a lot didn't you yeah I missed a lot how old are
you 13 how old are is 11 she's 11 that's that's 13 years already gone I can't get
that's 11 years already going that c gear you know what else what else has just struck you that is different in
just these days have you noticed I still wake up at the same time around 3:00 3:30 and you know what I do
I walk outoors sit on that back of that pickup truck you know what I'm saying and look up and say thank God I'm free
you know man I get me a cup of coffee sit out and smoke me a cigarette I you know listen this is a
wonderful thing it's a wonderful feeling to be free I really is see I'mma show you I'm now this is just a little joke
okay suddenly Crosley stood up and he started to uncp his microphone he began walking away I wasn't quite sure what
was happening and you can actually hear the confused voice of Dennis my cameraman who thought that Crosley was
abruptly ending the interview and then Crosley started to laugh no oh oh my bad but but yes de I'm going to do this here
no don't worry about it don't worry about it we're not going to be able to hear it I I don't want you to hear me oh
take hit this here I don't want you to hear me I have no idea what he's going to do
here you don't know I don't what are you going to do what you don't know no I ain't got to do this
interview you understand what I'm coming from now I I do you now can choose I can
Cho I make this Choice that's the thing about this whole interview I am able to make a choice now
to be with my family this moment really caught me off guard Crosley was showing me what his
Newfound Freedom meant to him in the past when I interviewed him in prison someone else told him where to sit and
how long he could talk today he could call the shots he could stand up during the interview or he didn't have to talk
to me at all I started to laugh but luckily for me Crosley did put his microphone back on and sat down to
continue our conversation if it wasn't for my family I I wouldn't be here my sister celese
she always told me don't give up your day going to come I used always say all right girl
when I get out we going to do things you know but that day never came she died crosley's sister celestie known as Tina
was buried in a cemetery just down the road from where we were sitting and this was when Crosley described the
boundaries of his freedom during his temporary release Crosley couldn't visit Tina's grave or go most anywhere else
without special permission from his probation officer he was free but within limits show me where where can you go I
can't go on that sidewalk what would happen if you went on the sidewalk well that's that's my
borderline he walked up to an invisible border a property line between his brother-in-law's house and the neighbors
that he couldn't cross show me take me a little bit where you can go how far here
about right about right here Crosley stood on the grassy edge of the yard right along the sidewalk I was
told I couldn't go to the mailbox and I want to be out here I have this Freedom here if it ain't it was 12 yards I like
I take them 12 yards of Freedom he walked across his 12 yards of freedom and then showed me his
new Jailer here it this right here this ankle b b right here Crosley pulled down the sock on his right leg
and revealed an ankle monitor a constant reminder that his movements were limited
in his home confinement crosly though does that ankle bracelet also remind you that your time home might be temporary
that it does it does I I got to be honest with you it does [Music] a week later on April 17th 2021 48 Hours
aired our fourth broadcast on Crosley green case and for the first time since I started reporting on his case back in
1999 I finally got to say the words Crosley green is out of prison but as we've already discuss
Crosley was not truly a free man he was living in a legal limbo waiting for the appeals court to make its decision still
he moved on with life he was allowed to get a job as a machinist at a local tech
company while on Sundays he was permitted to go to [Music] church with me you walk with
father with Crosley knew he was living on borrowed time and he Faithfully followed
the rules of his temporary release still he dreamed of the open road he asked around if anyone was selling a used
motorcycle that he could buy and he was put in touch with a woman named Kathy spikes one of his friends caught me
asking if I was selling my motorcycle and I said I didn't have it but I would help them look for one if
they were serious and then about two weeks later we talked to the phone and we talked about bike a little bit we
talked for about six hours um he told me about being incarcerated but didn't tell
me full details um just told me that he was recently um released and he was on house arrest so he couldn't go anywhere
and he just wanted to see a different side of life I mean did you have some hesitation that you're talking
to this man and you enjoy talking to him but he's admitting he's under house arrest and he just got out of
prison uh didn't that make you little nervous yeah yes um but also I'm told not to judge they hit it off on the
phone talking over the next few weeks finally Crosley took a chance and asked Kathy if she would meet him in person I
was in a place to where I said you know I wanted to be with someone and I did not know who or when or what but I was
kind of open at that point to meeting different people so I just said okay Kathy decided to take a leap of faith
and meet this mystery man she was suddenly drawn to um he wanted a root beer that night so I took him a root
beer it was uh June 30th and then then I text my sister I think I met my husband
you're kidding that's why I know the date like exactly the feeling was Mutual for Crosley it was love at first sight
too someone I meet someone that that's going to be a a perfect partner for me and matter of fact since that first
day she's been right there by my side Kathy is a c ified nurses aid quick to smile and laugh she works at a
hospice center caring for the sick and those facing death she had moved from Ohio to bravard County after visiting
Florida on vacation Kathy had always put her career first but when she entered her 40s she wanted to find love she
appealed to a higher power I wrote a letter to my grandmother who's in heaven asking her whenever she
speaks with God let her know um what kind of man I want what I want as a husband and two weeks later he
calls and how did you describe the man you wanted when I'm weak he's my strength
when he's weak I'm his strength I had prayed and really asked the Lord to put somebody in my life you know what I'm
saying and I've told her that I said listen the best thing that ever happened to me was that you got in my life I said
because I that's the one thing I did I go for if I ever get set free give me somebody that I'm going to settle down
with you know enjoy life with so both of you separately had prayed that you would
find love yeah and you found each other yeah this was a development I never expected I later asked Kathy about the
moment she learned that he had been in prison for murder and if that caused her to have any second
thoughts I went home and I Google and I'm thinking oh my goodness you you this cannot be true and call my sister and
totally like I I was ready to jump ship but at that time I've already invested probably three months of just talking
and just being around him and then I was like okay the person that I was with was
a person had compassion a person of much Faith a person that would give somebody
the shirt off their back you know the more him and I have spoken about it I don't believe it at all even though
Crosley remained under house arrest at his brother-in-laws that didn't stop him and Cathy from dating like a typical
couple with Netflix and chill Netflix and chill ain't that what we did for the first weeks why you why I tell her that
that's the truth my brother-in-law get a kick out of her and me always enjoying our laughing having fun
it's like to him little teenagers just fall in love is that kind of the best way to describe
you like two teenagers in love in a sense we act just like little teenagers at times at times we really do but it it
go farther than that with me you know I think it does with her too that teenage love turned into a strong
unshakable bond Crosley asked Kathy to marry him I would have never thought that I would first of all fall in love
with someone that was accused of such a crime but let alone you know being in love with them to know that that's my
husband and willing to stand by that neither Crosley nor Kathy wanted to talk about it but the threat of going
back to prison loomed over the couple like a rain cloud by the beginning of 2022 Crosley was still waiting for the
appeals court to make a decision would they side with the state and reinstate crosley's conviction or rule rule in
crosley's favor and even that could present a risk because if the court were to side with Crosley the State of
Florida would have 45 days to decide whether they would recharge and retry him for the murder of Chip
Flynn what I've been telling you for the last 20-some years that I was innocent I want my day Court to prove
that okay give me my shot to prove that you still have faith in the system after your first Tri why your now the
court sister didn't put me in here people all put me in here I really believe that deep down in my soul I'm
not going back to prison and then in March 2022 the appella court finally handed
down its decision after almost 4 years and cross 's fate would change yet again on the finale of Murder in the
Orange Grove the trouble case against Crosley green when I first heard about it you
know I was I was shocked why so much is going against me me do you feel that sometimes that
just as soon as you make a step forward there's something that come step backwards you know make a step forward
step backwards [Music] since his temporary release from prison in April 2021 Crosley green was trying
to make every minute count okay no all right you know I always wanted this not probably I always
wanted this he met a beautiful woman named Kathy spikes who turned out to be the love of his life
I mean we wake up in the morning laughing who laughs at 5:00 in the morning besides us you know it's a whole
thing of the genuine that he has in his heart it won't do anything but gravitate
me to him more and with faith in the face of uncertainty they decided to get engaged she crazy about kissing you know
what I'm saying boy it's okay hey come on do it come on every moment seemed special Crosley was
spending time with over 10 grandchildren most of whom he had never met until his
release he had a good job as an advanced machinist working with co-workers he liked and he became an active member in
his church where he enthusiastically sang with a choir to walk with me walk with my father
you are with freedom however limited was looking good on Crosley green how long would it
last on March 14 2022 almost a year after his release the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals in
Jacksonville Florida ruled in crosley's case the 11th circuit essentially decided that the
evidence of Innocence that was withheld would not have made a difference at his trial it was the worst possible decision
for Crosley as crosley's attorney Keith Harrison explained it the 11th Circuit Court sided with the state of Florida
ruling that the prosecution's failure to disclose those withheld notes would not
have made a difference in crosley's trial crosley's conviction would be reinstated
which meant Crosley could once again be taken from his family and returned to prison I can't say what going to happen
can't no one say what going to happen all I do I get up and pray for another day for more hours to be with my family
but crosley's fight wasn't over yet his attorneys decided to appeal this time to
the highest court in the the land well we'll keep fighting there are a number of uh um additional appeals we can file
but we will take the case to the Supreme Court um but we certainly we're certainly not going to stop I want
you to with me I'm 48 Hours correspondent eron morard this is murder in the Orange
Grove the trouble case against Crosley Green episode 8 keep the [Music] faith when I heard that the 11 circuit
court of appeals had ruled against Crosley I was first just shocked intellectually I knew it was a
possibility but I had never let my mind go there I mean how does a man who spent
more than 30 years years imprisoned and then freed returned to a life behind bars
there are certain rules that have to be met in order for a case to be granted relief at the federal level and those
rules make it very difficult to do so Professor Kenneth nun a visiting law professor at Howard University sat down
with me later to try to make sense of the 11 circuit Court's decision as Professor nun explains the circuit
judges found a procedural error they ruled that the issue of the prosecutor's notes should have been properly heard
first at the state level that sounds like a technicality it was a technicality and the problem is that he
can't go back now to the state courts to present this this way and it sounds like
he's pretty much finished in the federal court too there's just one other court left which is the US Supreme Court
that's it and how often does the US Supreme Court take a case like this the US Supreme Court doesn't have to take
any case most of the cases that appear before the US Supreme Court go there by what's called a rid assary or cert
petition you have to file aert petition with the US Supreme Court and ask them to take your case and you have to say
look the reason why you should take this case is because it's important crosley's lawyers Keith Harrison and
Jean Thomas knew their last shot to get Crosley a new trial was to petition the highest court in the land and they
didn't go alone Harrison said that over 100 prominent law professors five former
state supreme court judges from States like Texas Missouri and Mississippi along with a group of current and former
pro prosecutors wrote amas briefs in support of Crosley green these are legal documents filed by people and
organizations who aren't actually part of the case but who feel strongly that a case like crosley's presents issues that
should be heard by the US Supreme Court a lot of people were aware of whose case
and they kind of understood what issues were at stake one of those prominent law
professors was Prof Professor Nan he feared that the 11th Circuit Court decision would make it easier for other
prosecutors to withhold evidence from defendants it's a real serious problem that we see when cases come up and there
is prosecutorial misconduct and it appears as if the courts do not enforce those rules against the prosecutor that
makes our criminal legal system unfair and it harms our society as a whole and it undermines the rule of
law the Supreme Court says it receives approximately 7,000 to 8,000 petitions every year hearing only about 80 of
those cases almost two years after Crosley walked out of prison he got his answer Keith Harrison Jean Thomas and
the crow and Morin legal team did didn't want Crosley to hear it over the phone and they didn't want him to hear it
alone on February 27th 2023 they asked Crosley and his family to meet in a conference room at the
Holiday Inn in Titusville Florida good to see you cley good to see you it was a somber Keith Harrison who
shook crosley's hand that morning and then led him to a table draped in a black tablecloth with several chairs
around it Crosley took a seat and his legal team who recorded the discussion filled in the chairs around
him sh how you doing to crosley's sister Shirley White his brother o Conor green
and his son schuma Stokes then entered the conference room and took their seats that's when Harrison broke the news all
right well look thank you for for coming in I will just get right to it the Supreme Court is not going to hear
our case so they have denied our petition what happens next is that notice will go to the 11th circuit and
at some point the 11 circuit will issue a mandate reinstating Cy your conviction
MH I was not in the room for this meeting and looking at crosy on video it's hard to read his facial expression
here he seemed focused just trying to absorb what he was hearing he slowly nodded his
head in understanding why do my brother have to continue going through this crosley's
older sister Shirley White took the news hard is y'all going to send him back to
prison for a crime he didn't commit y'all going to take him away from his family again you took him 33 years
you're going to do it again to my brother it's un Fair it's a justi it's not right you're right it's not right
who to say I'm live another 5 or 10 years who is that any of us going to live another the system failed
us and in that difficult moment Crosley assumed the role of Papa again he stood up behind Shirley rubbing her back to
console her I truly believe that we all going to be together one day we all going to be together one day
not like this brother Shirley said not like this brother Crosley then looked over at his
little brother OK Conor who was sitting next to Shirley crying and wiping tears from his eyes as well Crosley always the
stoic Strong One cracked you have show me a lot since I'm in home don't let this get to
you it was very difficult to watch crosley's family deal with yet another blow for crosley's son schuma the
thought of losing his father again to the system was inconceivable he didn't hold back his
anger and frustration as he left the table and stood by the conference room door you ain't the only one doing time
we doing time right with you we doing the time with you you know what I'm saying it's a
family thing and now it's getting torn apart again now we got to open these scabs and all of this oh we know it was
you know was a possibility but now it's here know my kids grandkids all of that everybody got to go back through this
again got to go back down this road man that hurt man that hurt as Crosley went over to embrace schuma schuma started to
cry let me baby there was no time to fall apart Crosley his family and the lawyers had a
public press conf conference to get through good afternoon and thank you for joining with us today it was live
streamed on Facebook from this same room at the holiday in several people joined
the press conference in person seated in chairs facing a Podium Crosley and his family were seated at a table behind the
podium crosley's fiance Kathy was there in the crowd supporting Crosley and his siblings and son during this hard time
Professor Kenneth nun was present as well as Wilton dge and William Dylan the two men wrongfully convicted in Bard
County by Florida prosecutors in the 1980s Keith Harrison broke the news to the public this is a tragic day not just
for Crosley green not just for the Green family but for all of us all of us who will not hear any more about his case
and then Crosley stepped up to the podium to give his thanks and an emotional speech
now right now I feel a little weak because it's the love that I get from my family from peoples in general like you
guys it hurts me to see you hurt that's what's hurting me the freedom I had in the last two years is it's been
wonderful believe me I don't want this Tak him from me I want to continue going on like I'm going on I'm willing I'm
able to keep fighting never give up fighting for my freedom to my family I love you all of you thank you
for now am [Applause] a lot of people ask me all the time and they'll say he's not angry I mean you're
not angry about having to go back you've already served so much time God knows I'm not angry I continue to have hope
faith and all I just move forward truthfully you know I feel like the only judge I'm
facing now is the three judges that I always faced the father Son and the Holy Ghost
I can't say much about [Music] [Music] man we woke up at 4:30 I think he might have said a couple
of prayer silently that I prayed for us both as a reporter I had seen several people
walk out of prison I had never seen anyone go back in when I sat down with Kathy spikes a few months ago she
described the final hours before her fiance surrendered himself back to the state on April 17th
2023 the attorney's called and my stomach went into nuts um they were going to pick him up at 6:00 a.m. that
morning um I don't think we even ate we sat around we talked family came over you'll be all
right you'll be all right be a good girl the Sun was shining on crosley's last day as a free man I
was standing with his friends and family as they gathered outside his brother-in-law's home to say their final
goodbyes I just want you to know that I love you I really really really appreciate all you have done for
me Crosley spoke to his cheerful brother o' Conor while they leaned on the hood of a car he was as usual being Papa the
patriarch giving words of advice and sharing his wisdom I really want you to pay more attention to your health
though you hear me I will always love you brother I know this I know this why watching Crosley he didn't look like a
man about to go back to prison he wore a Buffalo Bills t-shirt a pair of jeans and oddly a furry raccoon tail hat he
was clearly trying to add a little levity to a dark day he walked around with his hands in his pockets as he
conversed with other family members up here well she'll before he headed out everyone got together for a group photo
with Papa green get up here M get up here and y'all get up here little people get
the little peoples up in front two it work hey I love y'all man listen listen y'all be strong
man eventually it was time to go a massive black Cadillac Escalade courtesy of the lawyers was parked on the curb
waiting to take Crosley to the Florida Department of Corrections Kathy stood with Crosley
after his goodbyes to his family and they got into the Escalade together Keith Harrison and Jean Thomas were
there too and rode over to the facility with them I follow behind in my own vehicle during the drive Crosley and
Kathy held on to each other in a tight Embrace and shared Tender Kisses savoring the last moments of physically
being together when they arrived at the Florida Department of Corrections Harrison and Thomas got out first
Crosley and Kathy followed it was almost like um I'm not going to cry um prep preparing yourself for like
a funeral it was one of the saddest moments to witness as a reporter hand in hand with
Kathy Crosley walked with his attorneys into the Florida Department of Corrections to turn himself in it was
more or less like walking through a door or never knowing when you're going to come back
out and to have somebody tell you you only have pretty much 4 seconds to give a hug and to say your
goodbyes um I'm having everything in my mind of how I wish I had have stayed up for work
longer um I wish I had a couple more days with him I wasn't going to cry it's okay it's
okay it's understandable I just know that April became a very hard month for me and I
got told him April this seems like a reoccurring tragedy over and over again you know the crime happened in
April he was released in April which was a happy moment but then he was re-incarcerated in April just to think
of the hours that go by the phone doesn't ring the phone call of saying what do you want to eat today that would
never happen as far as he's incarcerated crosley's three deade long journey through the court system was
over but not his chance for Freedom Crosley is a perfect candidate for parole I can't think of frankly a reason
why he wouldn't be paralled that's Keith Harrison they can't point to his his being a model inmate they can't point to
anything he did when he was out for two years it's almost like a trial parole you know so there's really as far
as I can see no basis no reasonable basis upon which he would be denied parole his attorneys now turned to his
parole board as the next step to getting him out but to their shock they were hit
with another blow the parole commission has essentially miscalculated his eligibility Keith
Harrison and Jean Thomas discovered that back in 2015 the Florida parole commission had
made a mistake when calculating the date when Crosley would become eligible for parole according to the lawyers Crosley
should have been eligible to apply for parole in 2014 but somehow the commission
incorrectly set it to 20159 a difference of 45 years how did they make that miscalculation well it had nothing to do
with Crosley Green's actions in the prison system he had been a model prisoner instead the Florida commission
set crosley's parole eligibility B based on his original 1990 conviction when he
had been found guilty of robbery kidnapping and first-degree felony murder but Harrison said that under
Florida rules only the felony murder charge not the additional charges of robbery and kidnapping should have been
considered it's part of the same crime it's what's called a lesser included offense part of the same crime so it's
like essentially double counting and in fact the rules say that the amount of time for those underlying offenses
should be zero that's what the rules say zero what's more the parole commission made its calculation back in
2015 without notifying crosley's attorneys they were unable to represent Crosley at the time to correct the
error Crosley was not present Crosley was not represented by Council we were never informed this was going on
did Crosley know it was going on Crosley knew that somebody from the parole commission staff came to talk to him in
prison but he did not understand what was going on nor is there any evidence that he ever received their
decision and what did Crosley think about all of this when I first heard about it you know I was I was shocked
man you mean tell me I was Edge for parole back in 2015 2014 and I didn't know nothing about it
I really was just dumbfounded okay why so much is going against me do you feel that sometimes that just
as soon as you make a step forward there's something that step backwards you know make a step forward
step backwards and we immediately you know filed essentially an administrative appeal um we got a very quick hearing on
it and that's how on June une 21st 2023 crosley's legal team appeared before the parole commission asking for
a correction for crosley's parole date but someone else had earlier told the same commission she didn't want that
parole date to change the voice you just heard was none other than Kim hoc now going by her
married name Kim Landers thank you for allowing me to give a statement hopefully this will keep
behinds for the duration of theight Kim said she hoped that quote this will keep Crosley green behind bars
for the duration of his life the teenager who is with chip Flynn in that Orange Grove before he died was
now 53 years old and for several years had work for Bard County in her statement Kim said Crosley had used the
media to quote manipulate people to think he's innocent this is the first time we're
hearing Kim's voice since her police interview on April 4th 1989 hours after the Murder She was
never willing to talk publicly about that night the recording of her statement to the commission is difficult
to understand so listen carefully I genuine believe he remains a danger to society and should never be given the
opportunity to hurt me or anyone else in the future probably had a chance to be a
law abing system before he has current ineris but chose to be a career criminal and in the end a coldhearted murder as
you can hear Kim sounded frustrated and rushed in her statement at this point an
unidentified voice in the recording Cuts in if you need to take a breath that's fine I'm all right okay I'm all right
okay there is no reason to believe that this at this point in his life probably to be
anything other than he's always been a complete Min of society in closing I request that she that this board uphold
the 2015 Paro decision and Lead this in the end the commission reduced crosley's parole eligibility by five
years based on quote positive conduct while on release which brought the original calculation down from year
2059 to 2054 if that calculation stands Crosley will not be eligible for parole until
he's 97 years old I sometimes go back to the fact that he was originally offered 10 years in
prison as a plea deal to save them from having to try this case and he turned it
down because he was was innocent and he's been in prison for 33 of the last 35 years and they're
fighting to keep him in until he dies when 10 years was enough to protect their interest from the
beginning the commission said it will review crosley's case again in March 2026 I asked Professor none why
authorities in Florida remain so adamant about keeping Crosley green behind behind bars I think there are some
people who believe that it is a deterrent to to Crime because what you want is you want the prison experience
to be as uncomfortable as possible and I think that most of the actors in the State of Florida have what I see is an
old-fashioned view that is more punitive than it is rehabilitative the whole issue of
whether someone is a threat to society or not anymore is not even a question they're concerned about I think that's
unfair and I think it's mean-spirited and I think it undermines public confidence in the criminal legal
system from technicalities to miscalculations it seemed like everyone one could make a mistake but Crosley was
the one paying for it this is Kenneth nun people tend to believe the charge that a black person
committed a crime because we created a society that ties black people black communities the things that black people
do to criminal activity and when criminal charges are laid at the foot of a black person it's very difficult to
shake them off as of the recording of This podcast in 2024 crosley's legal team petitioned Florida's courts to
compel the parole commission to recalculate crosley's parole dates the lawyers are now waiting for a response
if they don't win this time they will ask for clemency from Florida Governor Ronda
santz that is probably a long shot you right now as we speak there are almost 60,000
signatures on a change.org petition I mean does that what it kind of comes down to at this point how
important then is public interest in this can that make a difference well I I think it can make a difference I think
it's important because it does keep the pressure on it makes uh officials go back and look at the case since all of
his Avenues of relief are in the political realm and not in the legal realm per se I mean politics boils down
to what the people want and so if you can show 60,000 or 600,000 people who support this case then I think that's a
positive and it could inure to his benefit since the first airing of Crosley story on 48 hours back in
1999 through to our most recent story in April of 2023 there have been people who don't
know Crosley personally but who are so convinced of his innocence they've shown up time and time
again to support him in court they've started petitions in his honor sold t-shirts that say free Crosley green and
made their own calls to provard County demanding crosley's freedom I think what matters about Crosley Green's case is
what it says about us are we a society that really cares about Justice or do we just pay lip service to it is it okay
for a person who hasn't committed a crime to spent decades in prison for something he didn't do I think that many
Americans would find that to be probably the most terrible thing to happen to them and it tells about who we are as a
people who we are as a country uh what kind of justice system we have and what our Legacy is going to be for future
Generations if we don't do something to correct a problem that occurred in this case and we just let Crosby green sit in
jail when there's no justification for it we want to think that the legal system works for everyone that it
doesn't matter if you're poor or black or without resources when the system doesn't work
our job is to shine a light and so here I am still reporting on the troubled case against Crosley G
GRE hey how you doing hey Crosley hey hey good to see you again it's great seeing you I told you I would be here
soon this wasn't quite as soon as I hoped it's soon enough is really soon [Music]
enough I knew I needed to talk to Crosley again now back in prison I visited him on June 19th or what is
better known as juneth 2024 it's June 19th it's a day in which it's about Justice you know it's about Justice it's
about people supposed to get together pull together and figure something out the irony wasn't lost on either of us
that this was a day to commemorate the emancipation of enslaved people in the US and here Crosley was back in prison
Crosley is housed at the Sumter Correctional Institution in Bushnell Florida this minimum security prison is
around a 2 and 1 half hour drive away from his family over the years I had seen Crosley on death row I had seen him
serving life and I had seen him living his life I wasn't sure what to expect on this trip but I was anxious to let him
know that he had not been forgotten you started telling me that this time is a little harder than it's been in the past
yes it is you know you have to understand that I was out for two years and it felt good it really felt good to
be out there and doing the things that a normal person does in life and uh just coming back here you
know you you sit back you think about that and you think about the people that you love people that love you Crosley
looked thin but healthy he was allowed to talk with me in a conference room without any shackles or
restraints what is the toughest time of the day what is the toughest time of the
day there's a few tough times during the day you know the afternoons it's tough in the afternoons it's tough in the EA
this you know because normally I come home after work when I was out my sons come over my sister them
might come over we all sit out eat the ice cream or s store get some pizza chicken or whatever I miss that okay I
really do miss that a great deal but what he misses most is what so many of us take for granted what he misses every
single day is what he felt when he was with Kathy and uh I ain't never experienced a lot
of stuff because of the time I've been locked up and stuff like that I never experienced having to sit or be
around a person that that always made me laugh made me happy you know love me and
stuff like that that I'm getting to do stuff that was pretty much what I never thought I would be doing and it felt
good I mean that's what a lot of people take for granted that having a woman who
loves you and having dinner at home that's your idea of freedom I never thought I'd have a life like
that okay and for me to have start to have a life like that that was special to me a lot of times C to come to
visit and she she do it on a regular basis and it bother me because she doing a lot of Travy it's not quite the life
Kathy had prayed for but she told me she isn't giving up on the man she loves I'm
a a certified nurses aid and I work night shift so usually when I get off work at night I'll come home and on
Thursday mornings and change and then I take a 2hour drive to go visit him for lunch and make sure that we keep at
least that normalness in our lives what's your biggest fear at this moment Kathy
that he will never probably get released what do you pray for what do you pray about I I pray for a lot of different
things I pray for just two people to hear crosley's case on the commission board and come to like minds and see
that he can be released it should be released I pray for governor desandis and to STIs to have a heart and to
understand that they can also make a difference in his life and in this case I pray for Kim HCK the most um that she
will be able to go and have peace and say that the story happened this way and that's the
[Music] truth Crosley has not given up hope what are you working on while you're here
well my my my goal is right now is to get my GED if you remember Crosley had dropped
out of high school to work with his father and now he's back in school he's created a busy full life inside prison
he tends to the prison grounds he's involved in a faith-based program and he's made a lot of friends we got a
prayer group at night and in our prayer group we prayer for others for ourselves but we pray for others as
well we pray for sickness healing marriages and everything you know and for your freedom
and for for our freedom not just for my fre for our freedom we don't lead no one
out every in that Circle we hold hands we pray for each and every one of us and for those that are not in our
Circle I was allowed an hour and a half with Crosley and when my time was up all
right so I'm going to I have to let him go right yes I know just it's hard you know I'm sad yeah you sad I know you sad
but see you know what though uh the sooner the better though cuz you make me feel real sad to see you like that well
I don't want to I know I know I know but it's just that me and you got this spond
that we had ever since all them years back then you know I hope that next time I see you you're back I'm sure
I I'm kind of like pretty much I I really feel that things going to go my way this time good things are here
thanks for coming all right you know that let me get this in I got to get my school
work because crosing gree never got a new trial we'll never know what really happened on April 4th
1989 but Crosley green is not the only person who didn't get Justice neither did 22-year-old Chip Flynn who died that
early morning in an Orange Grove how and why did chiplin die why did it take so long to get him
help throughout this podcast you heard about the cops who failed to thoroughly investigate the story told by Flynn's
ex-girlfriend you heard her inconsistent stories you heard about the lack of evidence and you heard Witnesses admit
they lied to authorities before and during Crosley Green's trial and of course you've heard a lot about the
prosecutor who failed to turn over exculpatory evidence none of these people have faced
serious consequences for what they did or failed to do but Crosley green has before he went back to prison in
2023 Crosley green preached one last sermon to his church congregation I got a verse I want to
read out of this Bible I'm going to read Matthew 25 okay and it says do not worry all right all right you hear me do
not worry and this is what I be trying to tell my sisters my family do not worry I don't worry when I'm by myself
but when I get with you guys and I see your expression even with friends or supporters I see their expression I see
tears fall from there they bother me and I tell them don't worry man I'm okay I'm
always telling y'all don't worry I'm okay I can do this let me show y'all be strong with me I'm in God's hand amen
amen I am in God's hand yes you understand believe me when I tell y'all everything will be okay amen I love
y'all and thank you for listening to me [Applause] murder in the Orange Grove was reported
by me Aaron morard alongside producers Alan Pang Annie Cronenberg and Allison Bailey Kiara norbitz is our coordinating
producer and Florence brough Adams is our story editor additional production support from Dylan Gordon Marlon
polycarp Caroline Casey and Christine Driscoll Judy tigart is the executive producer of 48 Hours Gail Zimmerman a
basak Mark goom Charlotte Fuller Judy Ryback and Steven McCain produced the original 48 Hours episodes associate
producers were Michael Loftus and Shaheen Toki Patty aronowski was the senior producer special thanks to Megan Marcus
Jamie Benson Nick poser and Gail spru [Music] [Music] what I've been telling you for the last
20 something years that I was [Music] innocent we don't know what happened that night all we know is that chip Flynn
picked up his ex-girlfriend they had sex they smoked marijuana then chip Flynn got
shot in the early morning hours of April 4th 1989 the police received a 911 call from
Kim HCK I was dispatched almost immediately they did eventually find chiplin lying in an abandoned Orange
Grove he's been shot I get a call shortly after 2:00 that he has died there was a statement taken from Kim HCK
the black guy stepped out with a gun and I heard about five or six gun shots you don't see anybody else around
shots were fired you don't see any shell casing and just makes you wonder I don't
know the black guy told me how was a [ __ ] I don't believe words she says it's unfortunately a classic case
of what is often referred to as a racial hoax which is a black guy did it so you get then called in by the
prosecutor I told him I thought she did it I said to him you know I think you need to take a a close look at Kim
HCK were you at all surprised when crosy green was charged with chip Flynn's murder it was a total shock this this
was like picking a name out of a [Music] hat we finally had a federal judge judge
ruled that Cy green had been wrongfully and unconstitutionally convicted we did it Cy's going to be
released baby brother and we thank you Father for opening up doors that men have shut for
us father it was so joyous love love you too all right it's going to be okay Y is y'all
going to send him back to prison for a crime he didn't commit yall going to take him away from his family
again what was your reaction when the court of appeals ruled against Crosley reinstated his
conviction it was it was pretty devastating really I got to turn myself in tomorrow
I don't think I'm going but that's that's me cuz it's always a miracle God always sends out a miracle to someone
you never know when how where [Music] [Music] 48 Hours has been covering the questionable conviction of Crosley green
for 24 years crosley's attorneys say that race was a factor from the beginning the evidence that Crosley
green is innocent is literally overwhelming crosley's ordeal began in April of 1989 Charles Flynn better known as chip
was found shot in a Florida Citrus Grove he had been with his ex-girlfriend Kim HCK that night she told investigators
that they had been robbed and hijacked by a black man in holder Park as they sat in Chip's truck a little after 11:00
p.m. told Chip there's a black guy on your side and he Ed up the window real quick 20 minutes later Kim says chip
stepped out of the truck and she heard him say hold on man did you see that uh the black male was armed at that time
yes I did Chip had a gun in his glove box I took the gun out of the glove box and stuck it under some jeans that were
next to me she says the man tied Chip's hands with a shoelace ordered her to hand over
money from Chip's wallet and then with everyone in this truck she says the as salent drove them to the Orange Grove
steering shifting years and somehow holding a gun on them all at the same time Kim H told police that when they
got to the Grove the man yanked her out of the truck and then chip his hands still tied behind his back somehow
managed to get a hold of his gun that Kim had hidden on the truck seat he leaned out of the truck and somehow shot
at the guy and the guy stepped back chipped him out of the truck jumped in the truck and I heard about five or six
gunshots she said she then drove to a friend's home for help Sheriff Deputy Mark rxy and
Sergeant Diane Clark were the first two officers on the scene Kim H says that this as salent took both chip and came
to the Citrus Grove at 1210 and yet you're not dispatched till 1113 it's over an hour
there is approximately an hour that is missing and unexplained how crucial was that time that night matter of life and
death why is she not stopping someplace and making that phone call where could she have called right here from payone I
think there was three along the way convenience store convenience store and the hospital's right there the
directions Kim gave were so vague that even after Clark and rexie were dispatched it took another 30 minutes to
find chip get the call at 113 I respond to this area there's nothing there had to notify my dispatch
to get better directions I drive to this new area here where they informed me to go again
there's nothing there why then were you first sent to the wrong location that's a good question CU she didn't tell us
where to go she gave the wrong direction sergeant and Clark ended up sending another deputy to pick him up so she
could better guide them she wouldn't get the car we say can you show us where yeah nope not going down there what did
that say to you what did you think there's something wrong something is not ringing true I would want to know is he
okay they found chip laying on his stomach with his hands tied behind his back bleeding from a single gunshot wound to
his chest he was in pain but I seriously thought he'd be okay first words out of his mouth were get me
out of here I want to go home did he mention anything about an as salent nope no did he mention anything about being
robbed no no did he mention anything about being kidnapped no no I'm thinking what's going on here my feeling about it
at the time and still is that he was protecting her [Music] chip Flynn stopped breathing twice as
they waited for an ambulance Sergeant Clark tried to save his life he didn't have to die there wasn't anything he
didn't like to do Chip's parents Charles and Peggy Flynn now both deceased rushed
to the Orange Grove when they got the word chip had been hurt but police wouldn't let them near the
scene I should have been able to go back to see the flynns who spoke with us in 1999
were shocked to learn that chip had been with Kim HCK that night chip had a new girlfriend that's all he talked about he
didn't mention Kim anymore or anything Chip's parents said Kim had become too possessive and overbearing chip liked
his freedom she wanted him to be with her all the time Kim was upset about the breakup according to Chip's friend David
Stroop who also spoke with us in 199 9 I do remember they just that she didn't want to let go and it was David's home
where Kim H went for help I wondered why she came to my place as opposed to just
stopping at the first potential telephone you know even a a a home with a light on or anything if you know so
it's always bothered me Kim H was not and has never been a suspect homicide detectives from Bard
County Sheriff's Office seemed to take her at her word despite her delay in calling for help and her inability to
describe the as salent very well I really didn't get a real good look at him I was really
scared investigators claimed that almost immediately they got a tip that a small
time drug dealer Crosley green was involved he had recently been released from jail the description that she had
given for the sketch didn't match him they showed Kim this photo lineup and chose number two Crosley
green his picture is smaller and darker than any of the other pictures and it's right in you know what is often referred
to as the bullseye point of a photo array crosy green admits he was no angel but he had no history of violent crime I
think he was just an easy pick we're going to put somebody in jail for this green was was arrested in charg
with kidnapping robbery and murder despite no direct evidence linking him to chip shooting there were no
Fingerprints of Crosley green or any third person on the uh the truck not one single fingerprint
there was no case against Crosley green there was no case it was a one witness ID case in August of 1990 Crosley green
went on trial for the murder of Chip Flynn the case hinged on the testimony of Kim HCK the state star witness who
identified green as the black man who attacked the couple defense attorney Keith Harrison that's the weakest kind
of case where the only evidence you have is somebody said that guy did it the state claimed there were also
shoe prints found at holder Park prosecutor Christopher White NOW retired said a dog followed the scent of those
prints to the vicinity of a house where one of Green's sisters lived white spoke
with us in 2015 the shoe Impressions were were followed from the site where the truck
was parked supporting what Kim said about there being a third person there a black male who abducted them and did
these things those shoe prints however were never linked to Crosley green but the prosecution also had three Witnesses
all with criminal problems of their own who claimed Crosley confessed one was crosley's own sister
Sheila the defense argued that Crosley couldn't have killed Flynn because he had an
alibi Crosley says he was seen at the time of the Murder by multiple Witnesses at a party 2 miles away but his former
attorney only called one to testify and on September 5th 1990 an all-white jury convicted Crosley green of kidnapping
robbery and murder he was sentenced to die in Florida's electric chair hi Crosley I'm Aaron morard with
CBS I first met Crosley Green in 1999 what's it like being here on death row it's hell it's hell to me because
I'm here for a crime I didn't commit a team of lawyers from crowl and moin led by Keith Harrison and Jean
Thomas took crosley's case pro bono they say jurors never heard the real story when you look at all of the facts you
see that the state wanted to achieve a certain result and they manufactured evidence they coerced witnesses to lie
even before the trial Kim H's account had serious inconsistencies she told police that the
as salant had managed to steer Chip's truck shift gears all while holding a gun on them and yet she told Chip's
parents a very different story she was having to shift the gears for him he would just master clutch and she would
shift the gears he was making her do that Kim changed other parts of her story as well according to this police
report from the night of the shooting she told a deputy that the as salent told her to tie Chip's hands but just
hours later in her taped interview the black man was tying chip hands those inconsistencies would that have
concerned you we're talking about who tied him yes and who shifted the truck of course it would if she was
inconsistent any inconsistencies and yet another serious inconsistency Kim's description of the
as salent gun matched a semi-automatic she said that when she drove away leaving chip at that Grove
she heard five to six gunshots but no shell casings were recovered at the scene and the only bullet found was the
one that killed chip your own experts said that in fact the book bullet found in chip Flynn could have come from his
own gun did you find another weapon well no did you ever find another shell casing to match that weapon no and we
wouldn't if in fact he was shooting a revolver you understand that did you find any other bullet holes bullet holes
um not that I'm aware of just about then sh his hands were behind his back he leaned out of the truck and somehow shot
at the guy but that statement was contradicted by the evidence investigators found no gunshot residue
on Chip's hands the fact that his were tested and did not show any gunshot residue contradicts her story and I
totally don't believe someone could actually jump out of that truck and shoot a gun behind their back with their
hands tied anyway when you look at this case it is all circumstantial I would love to have had a stronger case but it
is what it is as for those shoe prints at the park criminalist Lisa Deo who who helped
crosley's defense team told us that the diagram shown at trial contradicts the actual crime scene video shoeprint after
proceeding West will then continue on around just to the outside of this fence if these were the tracks of the as
salant they should end where the truck was parked around here but in fact de Mayo says they continue past the truck
along the fence as you just heard and appear to leave leave the park how could they belong to the as
salent if in fact he got in the truck back here they couldn't no no they couldn't
the trail of Prince leaving holder Park is missing from the diagram this diagram
supports Kim H's story but this diagram doesn't match the evidence at the scene correct this was necessary to make her
story fit what what's more every one of the three Witnesses who testified that Crosley green confessed recanted after
trial there's a pattern that supports the fact that these folks were coerced when a sister testifies against her own
brother and says he confessed it's hard to believe that could be coerced absolutely um she
recanted almost immediately how we Tracked Down Sheila Green in 1999 what did they say would happen if
you didn't testify against your brother I would never see my kids again she told
us she had no choice but to lie on the stand did Crosley ever tell you that he killed chip I never even talked to
Crosley he never told me that basically they told me that this was my last chance to help myself because I was
already convicted but this is your own brother Sheila he will understand you think he will
yes he will he know I'm [Music] did what do you make of Kim H's account Chip's parents recorded Kim's account of
the night chip was shot hear what she said happened on Facebook at 48 hours [Music]
Florida had a long history of being engaged in uh slavery in the plantation economy that has passed itself on to the
criminal justice system here in this state Kenneth nun now retired law professor from the University of Florida
says the odds were stacked against Crosley Green in that Florida courtroom I would say that Crosley Green's case is
a miscarriage of Justice if you read the trial transcript the prosecutor was using
race to fill the gaps in the evidence during trial the defendant's race was referred to 140
times and I told Chip there's a black guy on your side she accuses a black person of
committing this crime who are they going to believe and what has defined this case from the
very beginning is that Kim HCK was treated as a victim never as a possible shooter everybody on the scene is a
suspect until they're not every single person is tested for gunshot residue that's not what happened here to this
day First Responders Diane Clark and mark rxy question why bravard County detectives failed to do even a basic
investigation of halik Kim H was taken in and questioned at 4:30 but not recorded until 8:20 and
what does that say to you well she had time to get a story the way she wanted it she was not a suspect did it ever
occur to you or anyone else that maybe Kim HCK wasn't telling the truth well of course it did I mean former prosecutor
Christopher white then why wasn't she ever investigated why was she never a suspect what do you mean no GSR taken of
her hands why not I don't know if there was or wasn't at this point was why weren't pictures taken of her hands her
arms to see if she had any injuries I guess I could have done more examination I'll give you that okay Crosset green
lawyer Keith Harrison finds it mindboggling chip Flynn had broken up with Kim HCK he was seeing another woman
Kim HCK was very upset about that that's the the oldest motive in the book jealousy jealousy still white took Kim
hallik at her word you've got to understand it's kind of a small community here in Titusville Kim HCK uh
lived at the in the area where I lived I don't see how there's anything here concrete to tell anybody that Kim HCK
lied but there were those obvious red flags with her story there was no moon on the night
chip fim was shot it was completely dark in that Orange Grove based on her testimony she said she didn't get a
really good look at him yet Kim H chose green out of this photo lineup a flawed lineup Professor nun says that is no
longer allowed under Florida's current laws you can't tell the witness that the the suspect is in the batch and that
happened in this case you have to make sure that the f photograph matches all the other photographs his head is
smaller than the other ones so he stands out would you do this today well no no ideally I would not
could she have picked the wrong person I don't think she did you know uh was she guessing more than she was sure
I couldn't tell you for sure that still leaves you with the issue whether or not
it's Crosley and you have arguments pro and con about that but the one thing I'm
sure of based on the evidence in this case it wasn't Kim HCK she was the only other one there who else would have done
it the only way all the facts are reconciled is if she shot him I told everybody I ran into who had
any interest in it I thought she did it I told the homicide Sergeant I told the homicide
investigator and four months after the shooting both brixie and Clark met with prosecutor Christopher white they wanted
to make sure he knew of their suspicions of Kim Howen and how did Chris White take that
information he was dismissed dismissive I said to him she is involved and I don't believe was a person you arrested
I never heard anything else about it afterwards I think that they got into an argument she pulled the gun out of the
glove box and either intentionally or unintentionally shot him they freak out I I don't want to get in trouble we got
to come up with a story let's make up this story why didn't you take their words seriously I reviewed all the
evidence that we had with that hypothesis in mind do they give me cause to believe that Kim HCK may have
committed this murder my answer is no Kim hoc has not responded to our repeated request for an interview but
she did tell the Washington Post I'm tired of being beat down by the media and she said I've been told I'm the one
that did it and I did not kill anybody you're that sure that cros the green is innocent I would bet my life on it yes
but in 201 11 years after chip Lin's murder the state claimed it had more evidence against
Green two tiny body hairs allegedly found inflence truck they tested them for DNA matter of fact I wanted them to
test it I knew I haven't been in that truck I never been that Tru there was sufficient DNA there to
obtain a result using MTA DNA that DNA mitochondrial cannot be used to identify a specific person it can only identify
broad family relations and crosy green could not be excluded from that group it's not a match the mitochondrial DNA
test cannot definitively say this DNA is this individual's DNA crosley's maternal
uh relatives for example would be in this group that is not excluded in fact crosley's brother o' Conor
believes the hairs could be his he happened to be a friend of the original owner of the truck it's possible cuz I
drove the truck kind of regular I I'm not saying I drove the truck one or two times I don't drove the truck several
times are you at all troubled by the fact that croset green could not be eliminated that's nothing that's not
evidence that is not EV it does not tie him specifically to that truck you have that one hair that could
have come from someone else his brother uhhuh is there any other physical evidence any other physical evidence
anything that connects Crosley green to this case well I I guess the simple answer to that is
no in 2009 after 19 years facing execution crosy greens attorneys won a major victory because of an error in sentence
scene green was taken off death row I felt real good at that time but I know I have another 100 yards to go but
Crosley Green's request for a new trial was denied even though some of the evidence was now in question and all
those Witnesses who testified against him said they lied on the stand have you ever had a case where three Witnesses
have recanted and lied have you ever never had a case three you know I never have that doesn't trouble you not coming
from those people with those ties to the Green family and the Green family being
what it is no it doesn't trouble me a great deal but in an odd twist of fate Christopher white provided just what
Crosley Green's defense team had been waiting for I was shocked I knew immediately that this was a GameChanger
[Music] I'm ready to go home hopefully I get that chance to go home I've been without my family for
quite some time now Crosley green was just 19 when his parents died and he assumed the role of Papa to his large
family which is why crosley's murder conviction was so deeply felt by his oldest child schuma his brother o' Conor
and sister Shirley and DEA I worried about him a lot and it's breaking the family it's
breaking the family down watch yall go over that way son schuma was 16 and his brother Gaston was six when Crosley was
sentenced to death it damaged us I got rebellious I just would have get in trouble no sense of direction cuz my dad
was gone I never was with my sons when they grew up you know and I got grandkids now
I don't know how much time I got left on Earth myself but the little time I I will have
left if I'm out there it would be with them but Crosley green will never be able to make up lost time with two of
his sisters they died while he's been in prison Brenda and Tina that's been tough that's been
tough they have been with me all until the time to die you miss him as for Sheila the sister who helped
put him on death row he forgave her years ago does she feel a lot of guilt of course she do but but that's my
sister and I want her to know that I love her and no matter what I'm not angry at
her with the witness recantations the only person who still connects Crosley to the crime is Kim HCK did you sit here
today do you believe Crosley green is the man who shot yes I do yes I do but as it turns out Christopher White made a
decision in 1989 that would ultimately turn the tide for Crosley green Mark and Diane suspect
the girl did it she changed her story a couple of times white took these notes after his meeting with Mark rxy and
Diane Clark when they told him their suspicions about Kim HCK one thing was she tied his hands
behind behind his back she never asked how the victim was while at the homicide she wouldn't go down there to
the scene why wouldn't the guy say who shot him white never turned those notes over to crosley's original lawyer this
is the evidence of Innocence that was hidden by the prosecutor what was your reaction when you first read those
notes I was shocked um I really couldn't believe it they can't just hide that evidence they can't cover it up they
have to disclose it to the defense defense attorney Jean Thomas says those notes which included inconsistencies in
Kim H's story would have been crucial at trial it goes to the heart of the defense theory of the case that there
was no black man at the scene of this crime that it was these two teenagers that there was an accident and then
there was a story that was made up after the fact those notes would have had a tremendous impact on the case and for
that reason in July 2018 a federal judge ruled that by withholding those notes prosecutors
violated Crosley Green's right to a fair trial his conviction was overturned it was a miracle that finally
there was a court that said yes his constitutional rights were violated when his conviction was overturned what did
you think would happen man I I thought my brother be home but Crosley didn't come home because the state appealed
arguing that the notes that prosecutor white withheld wouldn't have changed the outcome of the original trial Crosley
was held in prison waiting for the court of appeals to decide honestly I did not think it would
take this long but then the Corona virus invaded the prison where Crosley green was held his
situation became even more precarious after he was diagnosed with latent tuberculosis in March of
2021 crosley's attorneys filed a motion for his immediate [Music] release this is the day that we long for
God and we thank you Father for opening doors that men have shut for us father we thank you for those that
you gave us favors with Father God for you bringing our brother home cross with green I can't tell you where I was
thinking or what I saw or how I felt oh that's right hold your head up Pap Pap your head
up thank you I was just looking around wondering is is this real she a big baby no and at one point now I really
wonder is it for real thank you Jesus thank you thank you [Music] brother now that crosy green is home his
very large and loving family has descended upon him everybody wants a piece of the man they know as Papa green
I thought maybe it would be the kids that really want to be with me or want to talk with me the grownups beat making
them kids get out the way they push the kids to the side they want to be first son Crosley has a lot of catching
up to do so many relatives weren't even born when he went to prison if it was for my family I I
wouldn't be here my sister Celestine She always told me don't get give up your day going to come I used to always say
all right girl when I get out we going to do things you know but that day never came she
died crosley's sister Celestine is buried in a cemetery just down the road from where he's staying but he can't
visit her grave or go most anywhere else without special permission from his probation officer I was told I couldn't
go to the mailbox he's free but right now without that special permission he can't Venture Beyond his
brother-in-law's property line show me take me a little bit where you can go how far here but
right right here crley calls it his 12 yards of freedom and showed me his new Jailer here it is right here this ankle
break bra right here it's challenging for him Crosley has many many grandchildren most of whom he's never
met he wants to take them to a park and go fishing and teach them how to fish and you know sit under a tree uh and
tell stories and he he can't uh he can't do that at least not until the US court of
appeals hands down its decision there is a chance the court will side with the state reinstate crosley's conviction and
send him back to prison does that Ang bracelet also remind you that your time home might be
temporary it does I I got to be honest with you it does but uh I really don't believe I'm going back I really believe
that deep down in my soul I'm not going back to prison but less than a year later in
March of 2022 the US court of appeals came back with a decision that caught everyone off
guard it was unexpected and it was it was pretty shocking the Court ruled that those notes Christopher white failed to
turn over to crosley's defense would not have changed the outcome of his trial his conviction was
reinstated crosley's Last Hope to ask the US Supreme Court to take his case but in February of 2023 come on in have
a seat the attorneys gathered the Green family together to break the bad news the Supreme Court is not going to hear
our case Crosley has run out of legal options which means he has to go back to prison his sister surely took the news
hard is y'all going to send it back to prison for Crime D you're going to take him away from his family again you took
him 33 years there was a fair amount of anger why do my brother have to continue
going through this it was very emotional it was raw it's not right there was a lot of deep deep
sadness um you could almost feel like the family was kind of coming apart right right there in front of you they
failed us the system failed us but we just got dropped and the they last round for crosley's son schuma the thought of
losing his father again was inconceivable you ain't the only one doing time we doing time right with you
it's a family thing and now it's getting torn apart again they just miss him terribly he just is such an important
patriarch among that family a role model um but he he keeps that family together
I can feel what they feel and in that difficult moment Crosley assumed the role of patriarch again you have sh me a
lot since I [Music] me but we get this together we going to be all right if we stay together I can't
be hurt cuz I uh I still got faith I got the Lord on my side I'm happy I am happy
love you baby on his last weekend as a free man Crosley seemed almost hopeful I'm on
religious person and I have a lot of faith and trust and most importantly I still believe in
the system I don't have no no hatred I don't have no sadness I can't dwell on that couldn't sleep I would start
getting angry and that's not me Crosley has made the most of the time he spent at home this year has been a
remarkable year I got a job I never missed a day on he made Hightech metal parts and left a big impression Crosley
says his co-workers called him PPE and what does PPE stand for Pure positive and energy that's what it stand
for Crosley also fell in love and got engaged his fiance Catherine spikes when we did meet it was butterflies but at
the same time it was excitement how soon did you know that this was the guy you wanted to be with after our first phone
call what man these days sit on the phone for 6 hours I think just the compassion that he showed
me um that it was just a simple the sound and tone of his voice that made everything like oh my God you can make
everything all right for me does it make it tough to go back yes and no no because I've always tried to
prepare her for the worst like myself let's just say if I do not get that Miracle
tomorrow but it's coming you know I'm not going to have to tell her goodbye or anything like that I'm
going always love her on his last Sunday just like every other Sunday since he's been out with
me Crosley went to church brother Crosby up this time he said goodbye do not worry and this is what I be trying to
tell my sisters my family do not worry I see tears fall from there they bother me I'm okay I can
do this let me do this let me show y'all be strong with me I'm in God's hand amen
amen I am in God's hand [Music] yeah on Monday April 17th 2023 two years after crosley's
conditional release I love you baby he said a goodbye to his family I love you love you too love
you love you too he left each one of them with a few words of wisdom I love you I want you to continue doing what
you doing we just take one day at a time everything going to be okay on what could be his last day outside Prison
Walls hey I love y'all man listen listen y'all be strong man then he joined his fiance Kathy and
attorneys everything be okay for the drive to the correction center she's been right there by my
side more family members arrived okay say see you later last two years been some of the
greatest time I ever had all these memories I got those are my memories I think I'm going to be free
sir it ain't about the case it's about me it's about a human being that wants his freedom want to be able to be around
his grandkids his little nieces nephews his brothers his sisters family and friends you know this is what this
is about they need me I need them to but they need me [Music] more what do you think should happen in
the crossle green case chat now with the 48 Hours team on Facebook and Twitter I was startled
awake I started screaming A 55-hour Reign of Terror I did Tire up and he was hurting mom and I said please I'll do
anything please don't kill me 48 Hours next on CBS and streaming on Paramount Plus
[Music]

On a pitch-dark night in April 1989, a young man named Chip Flynn was shot in a Florida orange grove. His ex-girlfriend Kim was the only surviving witness and claimed a Black man had robbed, kidnapped, and killed Chip. A year later, Crosley Green was sentenced to death by an all-white jury for Flynn's murder—a crime Green insists he didn’t commit. "48 Hours" correspondent Erin Moriarty has followed this controversial case for 25 years, delving into inconsistencies — from coerced confessions to allegations of a racial hoax — that challenge the integrity of the verdict. Now, Moriarty shares exclusive recordings and new interviews with forensic experts, legal analysts, and Green himself from prison. "Murder in the Orange Grove," an 8-episode series from “48 Hours,” offers the most comprehensive deep dive into this shocking case that leaves one man fighting desperately for his freedom.

0:00:00 Episode 1: Moonless Night 0:31:21 Episode 2: Rumors 1:01:58 Episode 3: The Trial 1:47:37 Episode 4: Revelations 2:35:11 Episode 5: Life or Death Row 3:20:48 Episode 6: The Other Men 3:59:23 Episode 7: Free at Last? 4:40:13 Episode 8: Keep the Faith 5:23:08 Full Episode: Crosley Green's Hard Time

Crime. Social justice. Impact. "48 Hours" investigates the most intriguing crime and justice cases that touch on all areas of the human experience including greed and passion. "48 Hours," which premiered in 1988, has developed a rich history of original reporting and impact journalism that has helped exonerate wrongly convicted people, caused cold cases to be reopened and solved, and along the way changed lives.

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Brief Summary

Crosley Green's wrongful conviction for murder highlights systemic failures, witness coercion, and racial bias in the justice system.

Key points

The Race Against Time. As Chip's condition deteriorates, officers scramble to save his life amidst chaos.
Rumors Spread. Rumors about Crosley Green's involvement in the murder start circulating in the community.
Fingerprint Evidence. The absence of Crosley's fingerprints on the victim's truck raises doubts about his guilt.
Death Penalty Recommendation. The jury recommends the death penalty for Crosley after a brief deliberation.
Sheila's Testimony. Sheila reveals the pressure she faced to testify against her brother.
The Controversial Hair Evidence. The investigation found hair linked to Crosley, but the testing methods were questioned.

Episode highlights

Episode quotes

Crosley was in his usual good spirits.

30:41WatchNov 13, 2024

Tension

70/ 100High tension

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