The Trial | "Murder in the Orange Grove" | "48 Hours" Podcast (Episode 3) | Forensic Files

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 Flynn she was one of the 12 jurors who would
decide his fate she spent a lot of time watching him to me he 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 je Bloss was right Crosley green wasn't worried he
later told me but not for the reasons Alma Jean Bloss imagined why should I feel nervous about
something that I know nothing about 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 Aon
morard this is murder in the Orange Grove the troubl case against Crosley green at 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 Anon 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 each other we take care of each other and ain't no way you going to break us apart on crossley'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 in the state of 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 Crossley 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 1990 in 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
Gardener and grandmother Alma Jean Bloss became one of those jurs 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 the 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 hoc 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 six 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 investigators were never able ble to
recover any shoes that match those shoe prints only that they were tennis shoes while questioning agent Demars 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 dears 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 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 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 HCK no prints match Crosley green none on the outside of the car none on the steering wheel or
the gearshift 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 didn't 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 to 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 scent along the track of the the uh tennis shoe PR 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 scent of the person who left those shoeprints 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 him 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 unnecessarily suggested
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 to what effect that had the prosecution asked Kim halik 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 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 minds of the jurors
uh it was pitch dark there was a canopy of trees over the area where uh this allegedly occurred Parker asked him 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 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 juror 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 did No 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 them ringlets and they and and her description was she'd 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 he had a buzz cut when I spoke to White about that inconsistency he was dismissive might
they lie about his hair if it would help him do you think all of its 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 kimh 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 directly
to David group'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 of them uh were present when other people are 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 discrep
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 breakup chip was seeing someone new and uh kind
of out of the blue he drives by and he and 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 Pat padded
down and matted down um what did that suggest to you suggested to me that they might have
been out uh 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 opening statement there were some
missing pieces some pieces forced into place and that might have tipped the scale and 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 oh yeah so so what was the evidence that convinced the jury well his sister
testified against him and she came in with shackles in 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
could look at him crosley's older sister Shirley was also in the courtroom watching how difficult was that it was
very difficult the jurge 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 there in the
room I just want to make sure you heard that Shirley 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 carry 10 to life and the other one carry
5 to 40 years but the overall of the sagittary um guidelines it was 97 to 121 months oh my God for drug charges yes
did they promise you anything if you testified against your brother yeah I supposed to got a light
sentence but what exactly did you say in court you testified against your brother
in court what did you say for 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 motioned for the female passenger to run for help and that the two men struggled
over the gun she 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 this
young man so why should I take that PL 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 will 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 looked shaky and scared Lonnie testified that Crosley told him quote I
fed up man I 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 [ __ ] 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 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
29th and then on Thursday August 30th testified against her other brother OK 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 one month's time that stands out to me but nothing about that situation surprised Crosley
that's a thing that's been used in this system for so long they bringing family testify against family friends T get
friend 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 Crosley 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 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 family
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 hicle and looked over at another car and i' looked over um at the person driving and noticed it
was a male and I thought wow I think that's one of the jurors the juror looked 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 jur 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 is going I said well I think they got him found guilty and he goes why you say
that and I told Bobby that what you had seen the juror do mhm 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 four 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 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 Mist
[Music] trial 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 Pro 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 jurors why he 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 that's 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 gonna 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 ruined because of me Tim didn't want to mistrial so he lied and sure enough all the Motions for mist
trials were denied it was time for the defense to make its case Parker called five
additional witnesses to the stand a shoeprint expert who said that the shoe prints at holder Park could have matched
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 of crosley's cousin and 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'd be acquitted everything's going to work out I mean he he kind of comforted me I guess um and
he seem 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 aloud guilty of robbery kidnapping and
first deegree felon 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 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 I 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 out just shut everything
out see I had a my family was there and I didn't want them to get angry or upset stuff like that yeah because 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'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 Bloss 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 27th 19 90 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 the 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 instead pledged 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 be
executed and that scared the hell out of me I wouldn't learn about crosley's case
until almost 10 years later 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 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 murder in the Orange Grove was
reported by me Aon morard alongside producers Alan Pang Annie Cronenberg and Alice 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 asena 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 [Music]
spru Paramount podcasts e

When Crosley Green went on trial for the murder of Chip Flynn, he faced an all-white jury. Witness after witness came forward for the prosecution including Kim Hallock who pointed directly at Crosley Green in court. But it was the surprise appearance of one of Crosley Green's closest family members that would ultimately help decide his fate.

Get early, ad-free access to episodes of "Murder in the Orange Grove: The Troubled Case Against Crosley Green" by subscribing to 48 Hours+ on Apple Podcasts or Wondery+ on the Wondery app. The series is widely available everywhere else you get your podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/murder-in-the-orange-grove-the-troubled-case/id1766382718

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Brief Summary

Crosley Green's trial for Chip Flynn's murder featured conflicting testimonies and racial dynamics, leading to a guilty verdict and death sentence.

Key points

Crosley Green's Trial Begins. In August 1990, Crosley Green stands trial for the murder of Chip Flynn, with his life at stake.
Juror's Perspective. Alma Jean Bloss shares her observations of Crosley during the trial, noting his calm demeanor.
The Importance of Evidence. Prosecutor Chris White explains the evidence will come in pieces, likening it to a jigsaw puzzle.
Kim's Testimony. Kim's nervous demeanor and inconsistent statements raise doubts during the trial.
Shocking Family Testimony. Crosley's sister testifies against him, a pivotal moment in the trial.
Sheila's Testimony. Sheila testifies against her brother Crosley, revealing deep family conflict.

Episode highlights

Episode quotes

There's no jury in the world that's going to convict him based on these facts.

Rob Parker's confidence in Crosley Green's defense.

1:35WatchOct 2, 2024

Tension

75/ 100High tension

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