Murder in the Orange Grove: The Troubled Case Against Crosley Green - Keep the Faith: 8

Episode Date: November 6, 2024

Since Crosley Green's temporary release from prison, he had created a beautiful life on the outside: he had found love, gotten a job, and was attending church regularly. But when the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals decided to reinstate his conviction, Crosley found himself returning to prison. Running out of options, his attorneys took his case to the highest court in the land: the U.S. Supreme Court.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

48Hours Plus and Wondery Plus subscribers can listen to new episodes of Murder in the Orange Grove, The Troubled Case Against Crosley Green, One Week Early and ad-free right now. Join 48Hours Plus on Apple Podcasts or Wondery Plus in the Wondery app. 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 five o'clock 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. Every moment seems 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 the choir. 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's going to happen. Can't no one say what's going to happen. All I do, I get up and I 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 land. Well, we'll keep fighting. There are a number of additional appeals we can file, but we will take the case to the Supreme Court. But we're certainly not going to stop. I'm 48 Hours correspondent Erin Moriarty. This is Murder in the Orange Grove, the troubled case against Crosley Green. Episode 8.

Keep the Faith. When I heard that the 11th 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 in prison and then freed return 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 Nunn, a visiting law professor at Howard University, sat down with me later to try to make sense of the 11th Circuit Court's decision. As Professor Nunn 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 who 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 U.S. Supreme Court doesn't have to take any case. Most of the cases that appear before the U.S. Supreme Court go there by what's called a writ assertiary or assert petition. You have to file a cert petition with the U.S. 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 Gene 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 prosecutors, wrote amicus 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 this case and they kind of understood what issues were at stake. One of those prominent law professors was Professor Nunn. 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 Kroll and Moorin legal team didn't want Crosley to hear it over the phone, and they didn't want him to hear it alone. On February 27, 2023, they asked Crosley and his family to meet in a conference room

at the Holiday Inn in Titusville, Florida. 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. Schumer. Schumer? Hi, how are you doing? Crosley's sister Shirley White, his brother O'Connor Green, and his son Schumer Stokes then entered the conference room and took their seats.

That's when Harrison broke the news. Well, look, thank you 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 11th Circuit will issue a mandate reinstating Krause your conviction.

I was not in the room for this meeting, and looking at Krause 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 gonna send him back to prison for crying and then commit?

Y'all gonna take him away from his family again? You took him 33 years. Y'all gonna do it again to my brother. It's not fair. It's not just the two of us. It's not right. You're right. It's not right. Who's gonna say I'm gonna live another five or ten years? Who's gonna say anyone's gonna live another five or ten years? 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're all going to be together one day. We're 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 O'Connor, who was sitting next to Shirley, crying and wiping tears from his eyes as well. Crosley, always the stoic strong one, cracked.

You have shown me a lot, so let me know. 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're doing time right with you. We're 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 knew it was, you know, it was a possibility, but now it's hell. No, 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 Shuma, Shuma started to cry. Love you, baby. There was no time to fall apart. Crosley, his family and the lawyers had a public press conference to get through.

Good afternoon and thank you for joining with us today. It was live- streamed on Facebook from the same room at the Holiday Inn. 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 Nunn was present, as well as Wilton Dej and William Dillon, the two men wrongfully convicted in Brevard 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 people in general like you guys. It hurts me to see you hurt. That's what's hurting me. The feeling I had in the last two years, it's been wonderful. Believe me, I don't want this taken 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. A lot of people ask me all the time, and they'll say, he's not angry? 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 awe. I just move forward. Truthfully, I feel like the only judge on my face now is the three judges that I always faced. the Father, Son, and the Holy Ghost. I can't say much about man. We woke up at 430. I think he might have said a couple of prayers 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 17, 2023. The attorneys called and my stomach went into knots. They were going to pick him up at 6 a.m. That morning, I don't think we even ate. We sat around, we talked, family came over. She'll be all right. She'll be all right. She'll 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 tearful brother O'Connor 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, you hear me? I will always love you, brother. I know this. I know this. 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. Well, get on up here. Before he headed out, everyone got together for a group photo with Papa Green. Get up here, Miss Sire. Get up here and do it. You all get up here. Little people. Get the little people up in front. One, two, three. It worked.

Hey, I love y'all, man. 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 Gene Thomas were there too and rode over to the facility with them. I followed behind in my own vehicle.

During the drive, Crosley and Cathy 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, I'm not gonna cry, um're paying 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 and

never knowing when you're going to come back out. And to have somebody tell you, you only have pretty much four seconds to give a hug and to say your goodbyes. I'm having everything in my mind of how I wish I had stayed off of work longer. 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 to tell 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 decade 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 paroled. That's Keith Harrison.

They can't point to 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 Gene 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 2059, 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 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 par the same crime. It's what's called a lesser included offense, par 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 counsel. 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 shocked. You mean, tell me, I was there for parole back in 2015, 2014, and I didn't know nothing about it. I really was just dumbfounded. Okay? Why is so much going against me?

Would you feel that sometimes? That just as soon as you make a step forward, there's something that... Step backwards. Yeah. Make a step forward, step backwards. And we immediately, you know, filed essentially an administrative appeal. We got a very quick hearing on it.

And that's how on June 21, 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 Halleck, now going by her married name, Kim Landers. Thank you for allowing me to give a statement. Hopefully this will keep Crosley Green behind bars for the duration of the fight.

Kim said she hoped that, quote, this will keep Crosley Green behind bars for the duration of his life. The teenager who was with Chip Flynn in that orange grove before he died was now 53 years old and for several years had worked for Brevard 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 4, 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 genuinely 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-abiding citizen before.

He isn't hurt in person, but chose to be a career criminal and in the end, a cold-hearted murder. As you can hear, Kim sounded frustrated and rushed in her statement. At this point, an unidentified voice in the recording cuts in. 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 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 interests from the beginning. The commission said it will review Crosley's case again in March, 2026.

I asked Professor Nunn why authorities in Florida remain so adamant about keeping Crosley Green behind bars. I think there are some people who believe that it is a deterrent 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 as 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 could make a mistake, but Crossley was the one paying for it. This is Kenneth Nunn. 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 Ron DeSantis. That is probably a long shot. You know, 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 that is public interest in this, can that make a difference? I think it can make a difference. I think it's important because it does keep the pressure on. It makes 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, 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 in nearer to his benefit. Since the first airing of Crosley's 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 Brevard County demanding Crosley's freedom. I think what matters about Crosley and 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 spend 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, 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 the problem

that occurred in this case, and we just let Carozzi 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 Green. 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.

Soon enough. It was really soon 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 Juneteenth 2024. It's June 19th. It's a day in which it's about justice, you know. It's about justice, 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 U.S.

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 two and a 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 just coming back here, you know, you sit back, you think about that. 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 tougher in the afternoons and it's tougher in the evenings, you know, because normally I come home after work when I was out. My sons come over. My sister-in-law might come over.

We all sit out, eat ice cream or since it's still get some pizza or 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 I 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 always made me laugh, made me happy, you know, loved me and stuff like 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, Kathy come to visit and she do it on regular basis and it bothered me because she's doing a lot of traveling. 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 certified nurse's aide and I work night shift. So usually when I get off work at night, I'll come home on Thursday mornings and change and then I take a two hour drive to go visit him for lunch to 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 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 DeSantis and Lady DeSantis 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 Halleck the most that she will be able to go and have peace and say that

the story happened this way and that's the truth. Crosley has not given up hope. What are you working on while you're here? Well, 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 pray for others. For ourselves,

but we pray for others as well. We pray for sickness, healing, marriages, everything. And for your freedom. sickness, healing, marriages, everything. And for your freedom. And for our freedom, not just for my freedom, for our freedom. We don't leave no one out. Every one 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 cross Lee and when my time was up. All right, so I'm going to I have to let go right. Yes, I know this is it's hard. Yeah, you said I know he said but you know what though. Sooner the better because you make me feel real sad to see you like that.

I know I know I know but it's just that we and you Sooner the better though, because you make me feel real sad to see you like that. Well, I don't want to. I know, I know, I know. It's just that we and you got this bond that we had ever since all of years back then. I hope that next time I see you, you're back out. I'm sure. I'm kind of like pretty much, I really feel feel that things are gonna go my way this time. Good things are ahead. Thanks for coming. All right, you know that.

Yeah. Let me get this in, huh? I gotta get my school work. Because Crossley Green 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 Chip Flynn 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 Crossley 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. You hear me? Do not worry. Don't 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 their, 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. I am in God's hand. You understand? Believe me when I tell y'all everything will be okay. I love y'all and thank you for listening to me. Murder in the Orange Grove was reported by me, Erin Moriarty, alongside producers

Alan Pang, Annie Cronenberg, and Allison Bailey. Kiara Norbitz is our coordinating producer, and Florence Burrow-Adams is our story editor. Additional production support from Dylan Gordon, Marlon Policarp, Caroline Casey, and Christine Driscoll. Judy Tigart is the executive producer of 48 Hours. Gail Zimmerman, Asena Basak, Mark Goldbaum, Charlotte Fuller, Judy Rybak and Stephen McCain produced the original 48 Hours episodes. Associate producers were Michael Loftus and Shaheen Toki. Patty Aronofsky was the senior producer. Special thanks to Megan Marcus, Jamie Benson, Nick Poser, and Gail Spruill.

If you like Murder in the Orange Grove, the troubled case against Crossley Green, you can listen to the next episode one week early and ad-free by joining 48Hours Plus on Apple Podcasts or Wondry Plus in the Wondry app. Before you go, tell us about yourself by filling out a short survey at Wondry.com slash survey.