“I am praying that the decision-makers within the State of Florida hear us,” Crosley Green said, according to his legal team.
A Florida man that was released after he spent nearly half of his life in prison may have to go back behind bars after the U.S. Supreme Court denied his petition.
Crosley Green, 65, was sentenced to death in 1990 after he was convicted by an all-white jury in the 1989 murder of Charles “Chip” Flynn, Jr., according to the petition.
Green spent 19 years on death row before his legal team was able to get his sentencing switched to life in prison rather than execution, Crowell, the firm representing Green, said.
In 2021, Green was conditionally released after a federal court found prosecutors in the case withheld evidence, the petition said. It included an interview with two police officers who stated they thought the victim's ex-girlfriend was behind the murder, according to court documents.
Green was able to be out of prison but remained on house arrest while the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals came to a decision, according to Crowell. This ultimately reversed the previous decision and would require Green to go back to prison, Crowell said.
Green’s lawyers said they petitioned the U.S. Supreme Court to review his case as one of his last opportunities for freedom, but on Monday, the court announced that they denied the petition.
The last chance Green has at remaining free lies with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who could offer clemency to the 65-year-old man.
“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,” said one of Green’s attorneys, Keith J. Harrison.
“I am praying that the decision-makers within the State of Florida hear us,” Green said, according to Crowell. “I see a small group getting together to make this justice system really what it’s supposed to be. Fairness for all—not just one but all."
Green has always maintained his innocence.
