What happened to Crosley Green?
What happened to Crosley Green?
Florida Department of Corrections inmate No. 902925 has spent more than 32 years behind bars for a crime many believe he did not commit.
Crosley Green was a small-time cocaine dealer with one prior prison stint of only six months in 1989 when Charles "Chip" Flynn was murdered. Green had been forced into a patriarchal role as a teen when his parents died in a murder-suicide.
Green was sent to Florida's death row on Feb. 20, 1991. His death sentence was later commuted to life in prison for kidnapping and murder.
Green, incarcerated at the Calhoun Correctional Institution, was granted a new trial July 20, 2018, by the U.S. District court of the Middle District of Florida, citing prosecutorial violations before his initial trial.
The court ruled that prosecutors withheld crucial evidence that would have been beneficial to his defense.
The state appealed that ruling and Green was being held in prison awaiting the court's decision on the appeal. A judge in 2021 ordered him released on house arrest due to health concerns pending the outcome of the appellate court. After the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals overturned the lower court's decision, Green was ordered back to prtison.
He was allowed to remain free on house arrest until the U.S. Supreme Court ruled on the matter. In early 2023, the country's highest court refused to take the case and Green was sent back to prison to serve out his life sentence.
Here's a timeline of Green's case
1989: Green was convicted of kidnapping and killing Charles "Chip" Flynn in a Mims orange grove in 1989. He spent nearly 20 years on death row — his sentence was later commuted to life — for kidnapping Flynn and his girlfriend, Kim Hallock, after the couple had smoked marijuana and had sex in the groves.
March 16, 1989: Crosley Green is released from Madison Correctional Institution.
April 4, 1989: Charles "Chip" Flynn Jr., 22, is shot in the chest in a Mims orange grove. The first two law enforcement officers to the scene told prosecutors they believed Hallock was responsible and that Green had nothing to do with the crime.
June 8, 1989: Green, 31, is arrested and accused of killing Flynn.
July, 1989: Green turns down a plea offer from the state of seven years in prison.
August to September 1989: A jury finds Green guilty of murder, robbery and kidnapping. The next year, Judge John Antoon sentences him to die.
April 1, 1992: Sheila Green signs an affidavit from prison recanting her testimony against her brother, Crosley Green. Sheila Green says she "was pressured to commit perjury against my brother."
April 1993: Defense attorney Rob Parker files a motion for a new trial. He points out that Kim Hallock was only "pretty sure" Crosley Green was the suspect. The court takes no action on the motion.
Early summer 1999: Chicago investigator Paul Ciolino agrees to look into the case after being contacted by Nan Webb, a Viera housewife.
July 31, 1999: Ciolino and three other investigators from across the U.S. arrive in Brevard to review the case and interview witnesses, jurors and others connected to the case.
August 1999: Brevard County Sheriff Phil Williams and Assistant State Attorney Chris White meet with Ciolino and agree to review any new information about the Green case.
2000: Florida Department of Law Enforcement says that a DNA test on two hairs does not rule out Green as the perpetrator and the hair could come from the maternal side of Green's family.
2002: Green's attorney continues appealing his case, trying to win a new trial.
2003: A hearing takes place in front of Judge Bruce Jacobus. Testimony is presented showing Crosley Green's brother had previously been in the truck and is likely the source of the two hairs.
June 2007: Lawyers from both sides square off before the Florida Supreme Court. The state challenges an appellate ruling from 2005, which threw out Green's death sentence.
October 2007: Florida Supreme Court upholds Green's conviction but says that he should be resentenced.
2008: The state attorney's office says it no longer will pursue the death sentence for Green.
2009: Green is re-sentenced to life.
2010: Green's attorneys petition for a new trial.
2011: Despite two new alibi witnesses, Green's petition for a new trial is denied.
2016: Eighteen months after Green filed a motion for a new trial, citing prosecutorial misconduct, U.S. District Judge Roy Dalton Jr., denies the claim saying it is time-barred.
2017: Green's attorneys win a major appeal with the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta ruling that Dalton was wrong in denying Green's petition for a new trial because of a technicality.
2018: Dalton grants a writ of Habeas Corpus, meaning a new trial for Green based on the fact that prosecutor Chris White withheld evidence from Green's attorney Rob Parker that was material to his defense. The state appeals the court's ruling.
2018: Green's supporters have a Facebook page for him, facebook.com/crosleygreen
2020: The state's appeal is heard before the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals.
2021: Judge Roy Dalton of the Middle District Court of Florida grants Green's request to be released immediately due to health concerns pending the outcome of the appellate ruling.
2022: The 11th Circuit Court of Appeals overturns Dalton's earlier ruling and reinstates the conviction.
2023: The U.S. Supreme Court refuses to hear the case despite petitions from a group of law professors, prosecutors and former judges on Green's behalf.
April 17, 2023: Crosley Green returns to prison.
June, 2023: During a hearing to determine Green's parole eligibility, it is learned the state miscalculated his eligibility date by including 45 additional years for lesser charges. By their own rules, the parole commission should have calculated his parole eligibility based only on felony murder and added zero additional time for the other offenses.
Contact Torres at jtorres@floridatoday.com. You can follow him on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter @johnalbertorres.
This article originally appeared on Florida Today: Crosley Green timeline of events
