Crosley Green's murder conviction appeal heard in Atlanta
John A. TorresATLANTA — Now there is nothing to do but wait.
Family members and attorneys for a Titusville man who has spent the last 28 years in prison for a murder he may not have committed were cautiously optimistic after Wednesday morning's 35-minute hearing before a trio of judges in the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals.
Crosley Green was convicted in 1990 of killing Charles "Chip" Flynn and kidnapping his girlfriend, Kim Hallock, from a Mims orange grove in 1989. He spent nearly 20 years on death row before his sentence was commuted to life in 2009. Green, 60, is currently being held at Hardee Correctional Institution.
Case of Crosley Green: Was an innocent man convicted of murder 25 years ago?
"We made it this far with our brother, let's hope that he'll be coming home very soon, you know?" said Green's brother O'Connor Green just outside the courthouse, with several other family members who made the trip from Brevard County to Atlanta. "He's real confident and he's got some spirit in him still."
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The appeal, argued by Keith Harrison of the Washington-D.C.-based firm Crowell & Morning, was two-pronged. The first argument was that U.S. District Judge Roy Dalton of the Middle District of Florida improperly ruled that Green's appeal of his murder conviction was not filed within the allotted time frame, thus barring Green's case from being heard.
The second was a claim of "actual innocence" made by Green's attorneys.
"Crosley Green has spent 28 years in prison for a crime he did not commit," Harrison said in addressing the panel of judges. "My petition was timely filed and Mr. Green is actually innocent. This is a unique case. There is compelling evidence of actual innocence."
The reason for optimism is that Judge Stephen J. Murphy agreed verbally an error had been made.
"I think you have a pretty good issue on timeliness," he said. "It seems the district court made a mistake."
There is no timeline on when the court will issue its ruling. It could be weeks or it could be several months before Green knows whether the lower court's decision will be overturned and his original appeal can be heard. It took Dalton 18 months to rule that Green's appeal was not timely.
Green's attorneys would love to be able to present their case in open court, saying the conviction is rife with inconsistencies.
Case of Crosley Green: Was an innocent man convicted of murder 25 years ago?
Problems with the case include:
-- Responding officers, retired Brevard County Sheriff's Deputy Mark Rixey and retired Sheriff Patrol Sgt. Diane Clarke, told prosecutor Chris White they believed Hallock was responsible for the murder.
They pointed to: her demeanor and behavior after the shooting; the lack of any physical evidence tying Green to the crime scene; the fact that only one bullet was found and that it was likely from Flynn's own gun; and that Flynn would not comment on who shot him when police arrived, saying instead "get me out of here," before he died.
White never turned that information over to the defense.
-- Hallock, who somehow escaped, drove Flynn's truck past several payphones and a hospital before arriving at Flynn's friend's home. She even drove past her parents' home before calling police.
-- The suggestive photo lineup shows Green's face as much smaller and darker than the rest and is in the middle of the top row. Also, Green's close-cropped Afro was nothing like the long jheri-curl hairdo Hallock had described.
-- The jury was shown a map of Holder Park complete with footprints but they never were given a map showing that the footprints actually left the park and did not disappear into Flynn's truck.
-- The jury was also told a dog handler tracked a pair of sneakers -- that did not belong to Green -- to Green's sister's house.
Green fought for DNA testing in the case. Unfortunately for him, two body hairs found in the truck could not rule him out and the testing performed by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement was unable to preserve any of the hair for further, more sophisticated testing available now.
The previous owner of the truck testified that O'Connor Green -- who has the same mitochondrial DNA as Crosley — would drive the truck on occasion and was often in the vehicle.
"Him not being home has really taken a lot out of our family," O'Connor Green said. "But I know that by the grace of God he's going to come home so he can spend the rest of his life with his family."
Contact Torres at 321-242-3684 or at jtorres@floridatoday.com. Don’t forget to follow him on Twitter @johnalbertorres or on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/FTjohntorres.
The story of Crosley Green's arrest, trial and conviction is reminiscent of those chronicled on our podcast "Murder on the Space Coast." Go to floridatoday.com/podcasts to listen.