After spending more than three decades behind bars for a murder he insists he didn’t commit, the only person standing between 65-year-old Crosley Green and prison is Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL).
The Supreme Court on Monday refused to take up Green’s appeal, and his conviction is expected to be reinstated. Green was granted house arrest in 2021 after a federal district judge ruled prosecutors withheld evidence in the 1989 shooting death of 21-year-old Charles Flynn.
EX-DEATH ROW INMATE TRIES TO STOP PRISON RETURN THROUGH APPEALS COURT JUDGMENT
Green’s legal victory was short-lived after the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit overturned the lower court’s ruling in March last year, and the Supreme Court’s decision to deny the case signals Green’s conviction will likely be reinstated.
“Mr. Green and his family were devastated by the news today. Yet, they are a family of remarkable faith, and they are clinging to one remaining hope — that the state of Florida will grant clemency or parole. There is still time for the state to do the right thing,” Keith J. Harrison, an attorney for Green, told the Washington Examiner.
Green’s case has been ongoing since his 1990 conviction. He previously faced the death penalty but was resentenced to life in prison in 2009.
U.S. District Judge Roy Dalton Jr. ruled in 2018 that prosecutors improperly withheld evidence about police officers suspecting a woman who had dated Flynn in the shooting. But the Florida attorney general’s office appealed the ruling, with a panel on the 11th Circuit finding Dalton erred because the issue of withheld evidence was not “exhausted” during appeals in state courts.
On Monday, Green, his family, and attorneys were at a press conference in which he said he wanted to “thank everyone who has supported me,” adding, “My faith is in Jesus, and that is a faith that does not disappoint.”
Green and his team said they plan to work through the state parole and clemency process.
“It’s a fight for freedom, and the fight isn’t over until freedom is achieved,” Harrison said. “We intend to approach Gov. DeSantis and the parole board. We hope to have a conversation about why Mr. Green deserves to be free. We know Gov. DeSantis is a law and order governor who is passionate about justice. We believe he will see that Crosley deserves to be free.”
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Green has been eligible for parole for several years and has not committed any offenses in his three decades behind bars. Green can only be considered for parole if he admits guilt, an action he has vowed to never do.
The Washington Examiner reached out to DeSantis’s office for comment.
