Crosley Green to remain free for now as he tries to get Supreme Court to consider his case

Crosley Green gets to enjoy his family for at least another holiday season.

The 11th Circuit Court of Appeal granted a petition filed by Green's attorneys that conditions of his release should not change until the U.S. Supreme Court considers his appeal. Green's attorneys say this will likely take place early next year.

Green and his Crowell & Moring attorneys feared that he would be sent back to prison after the 11th Circuit overturned a lower court's decision vacating Green's 1990 murder conviction and then refused to consider the case again en banc or as a full court. 

Green was released from prison to house arrest in April 2021 pending the ruling by the 11th Circuit. Now with this latest decision, he has a little more guaranteed time.

"This means that the District Court’s order granting the conditions of Crosley’s release remain in place until at least December 21, 2022, or until the Supreme Court’s consideration of our petition has concluded," said Crowell & Moring partner Jeane Thomas. "The practical effect of this is that Crosley should remain under his current conditions of release until at least early 2023. It’s hard to predict when the Supreme Court’s consideration of our petition will conclude."

Now Green's attorneys will file a petition for writ of certiorari with the U.S. Supreme Court. The petition will ask the country's highest court to order Green's release based on the prosecution withholding exculpatory information that would have likely aided Green's defense.

Green was convicted in 1990 of kidnapping Chip Flynn and Kim Hallock from Holder Park in Mims and driving them to a nearby orange grove where Flynn was shot dead. Hallock claimed Green and Flynn were involved in a shootout. Green has maintained that he was never there.

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The exculpatory information includes handwritten notes taken by prosecutor Chris White after he spoke with the two first responders — a sheriff's deputy and a sergeant — to the crime scene. They believed Hallock was responsible for the murder not Green.

The 11th Circuit ruled that the information contained in the notes was not material to the case, essentially meaning that prosecutors could now determine for themselves whether evidence or information is important enough to share with the defense.

The state will likely oppose the petition to the U.S. Supreme Court as they have opposed previous petitions.

There are numerous other problems with the state's case including: none of Green's fingerprints were found on or in the truck, witnesses who recanted their testimony saying the state coerced them and the fact that Green did not know how to drive a stick-shift truck as Hallock claimed he did.

In September, Green, his family and attorneys held a press conference where they pleaded for Green's freedom to continue throughout the appeal process.

"Crosley and his family were very pleased to hear this news. It means he will be with his family for another Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year," Thomas said. "And they remain faithful that justice will prevail.” 

Contact Torres at 321-242-3684 or at jtorres@floridatoday.com. You can follow him on Twitter @johnalbertorres or on Facebook at facebook.com/FTjohntorres.

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This article originally appeared on Florida Today: Crosley Green to remain free for now after 11th Circuit grants petition