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he wasn't a nervous person he just kind of sat there and and he looked down and he looked over and he would look at the
00:00:07
ones that were up on the stand and then he would look down Alma Jean Bloss was inside the courtroom on a Hot August
00:00:15
morning in 1990 when Crosley green went on trial for the murder of Chip Flynn she was one of the 12 jurors who would
00:00:23
decide his fate she spent a lot of time watching him to me he didn't appear nervous and that was another thing that
00:00:31
made me think maybe he thought he was getting off because they couldn't never be able to prove that he actually did it
00:00:39
now if he would have done it to me he would have been a nervous wreck knowing he was going to be
00:00:44
convicted I don't know it was touchy situation Alma je Bloss was right Crosley green wasn't worried he
00:00:55
later told me but not for the reasons Alma Jean Bloss imagined why should I feel nervous about
00:01:02
something that I know nothing about you're on trial for it people are saying You Killed Someone I mean you're not
00:01:11
going to be nervous about that in a trial listen if I did something I'll be petrified if I did something like that
00:01:20
okay but if I ain't did nothing why should I be nervous why you you give me one reason to tell me why should I be
00:01:27
nervous for for a crime I didn't commit I I believed Crosley green Rob Parker defended Crosley Green in court I said
00:01:38
there's no jury in the world that's going to convict him based on these facts and Parker needed to be right
00:01:44
because what was at stake at this trial Crosley Green's life I'm 48 Hours correspondent Aon
00:01:52
morard this is murder in the Orange Grove the troubl case against Crosley green at episode 3 The
00:02:07
Trial well uh my name is Chris White I was an assistant State Attorney here in the 18th judicial circuit here in Bard
00:02:16
County Florida and I handled almost exclusively murder cases in 1990 Chris White was one of two prosecutors who
00:02:25
tried Crosley green for the murder of Chip Flynn the other was assistant State Attorney Phil Williams white later told
00:02:33
me that he had specifically asked his boss to be part of the team the reason I did was because it occurred at holder
00:02:40
Park in part uh and holder Park is where my two kids were playing baseball so I had a kind of special interest in seeing
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that the case was handled and that it was handled well Crosley knew Chris White fact he had a long Rocky history
00:02:56
both with white and the judge handling the trial John Anon II and it wasn't just Crosley who had had past run-ins
00:03:05
with the law his younger sister Sheila and brother OK Conor had been convicted of Distributing cocaine and both were
00:03:14
behind bars at the time of the trial Crosley described a kind of them against us mentality that ran in his family me
00:03:24
and my family had a lot of trouble with them but yet still we stick together and
00:03:30
that caused a confusion with them they don't they can't understand why we going to protect each other we always sticking
00:03:37
up each other we take care of each other and ain't no way you going to break us apart on crossley's side Rob
00:03:47
Parker Crosley couldn't afford an attorney so Rob Parker was appointed by the court Parker had been a lawyer in
00:03:55
private practice for 3 years after spending four years in the state of attorney's office but this was Parker's
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first capital murder case he could have asked for co-counsel but he didn't he was so confident in himself and the
00:04:12
evidence do you believe Crossley green killed chiplin it's possible but it's not probable based on the evidence that
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we have jury selection began at 9:00 a.m. on Monday August 27th 1990 in inside The Bard County Courthouse in
00:04:32
Melbourne Florida Crosley and I sat there together and picked that jury uh so uh not that Crosley has any
00:04:40
experience in picking a jury but he was able to see the folks and and we did the
00:04:44
best we could with with what we had at that time at least that that's my opinion and that's how 53-year-old
00:04:52
Gardener and grandmother Alma Jean Bloss became one of those jurs she had never served before and she took that
00:05:01
responsibility very seriously what did you know about the case before you actually sat on the jury did you know
00:05:07
anything about it no I didn't know a thing I didn't know a thing I didn't know what to expect when I went there
00:05:13
were you nervous about doing it uh yes I was at first yes why well because it was to do with the
00:05:21
blacks and the whites and that many years ago it was kind of touchy and you know it's I love them all equal it's
00:05:29
doesn't make any difference what color and to have allh jury it's not fair that's way I look at it Alma is white
00:05:39
and so is the rest of the jury Three Men and nine women there's this jury I don't
00:05:45
care what their makeup was was going to have a reasonable doubt regarding his Guild Parker is white too so were both
00:05:54
the prosecutors and the judge Crosley Green's trial began on Tuesday morning August 28th around 10:00 a.m. there's no
00:06:04
audio from this trial but we do have thousands of pages of Court transcripts in his opening statement
00:06:12
prosecutor Chris White gave the jurors an overview of the case using the same metaphor the prosecutors often use he
00:06:19
told them that the evidence would come to them in pieces over the course of the trial and asked them to think about the
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front cover of a jigsaw puzzle box White said quote when you sit down at a table
00:06:32
and dump all the pieces out the first thing you have to do is look at the front of the box and figure out where
00:06:39
all those pieces are supposed to fit defense attorney Parker also talked to the jurors about evidence but he said
00:06:47
that evidence would show that Kim hoc didn't know who committed the crime Parker then told the jurors that the
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trial was about two tragedies the first tragedy being the loss of Mr Flynn the second being my
00:07:03
client being hauled into court charged with the most serious crime known to civilized
00:07:09
society Crosley Green's trial lasted six days the jury heard from over 30 Witnesses but we're going to focus here
00:07:18
on the key testimonies that addressed crucial evidence used against Crosley including shoe prints bullet fragments
00:07:27
fingerprints and dog tracking the very first witness on day one of the trial was agent Debbie dears from The Bard
00:07:35
County Sheriff's Office criminalistics unit she was the crime scene technician who recorded the walkthrough at holder
00:07:43
Park just hours after chipain's murder and what is believed to be the suspect shoe print is found throughout this area
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prosecutor White had already told the jury in his opening statement that investigators were never able ble to
00:07:59
recover any shoes that match those shoe prints only that they were tennis shoes while questioning agent Demars white
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showed a diagram of the shoe prints which showed them trailing through holder Park and then abruptly ending
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where chip fn's truck was parked here's what white told me later about that evidence they are there at the crime
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scene and they were leading into the crime scene to the truck it was a damning piece of evidence because white
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was implying that the person wearing those shoes must have left in Chip's truck Parker asked agent dears if she
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found any shoeprints leading back towards the Roe where they came from dear said no also testifying on the
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first day of the trial was Bard County deputy sheriff Mark rxy he was one of the first officers to respond to the
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Orange Grove along with Sergeant Diane Clark rxy testified that he and Sergeant Clark found chip conscious in the Orange
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Grove with his hands tied together behind his back with shoelaces and that he found a 22 caliber revolver at the
00:09:13
scene about 4 feet away from Chip later in the trial the defense cross-examined the forensic firearm expert about the
00:09:21
fragment of the bullet found in chip Lin's body here's how defense attorney Rob Parker described that testimony they
00:09:29
found one uh fragment of a projectile and as I recall it struck I think it struck chip in the upper chest
00:09:38
and traveled down and back it was just a fragment after all but the forensic expert testified that it appeared to
00:09:46
been shot specifically from a revolver not an automatic gun like Kim had initially told the police the as salent
00:09:54
used to shoot chip the only weapon found at the scene was Chip's gun gun a revolver and um of course my point was
00:10:03
how do you know that this fragment that you found in chip really didn't come from Chip's gun the experts said yes the
00:10:10
bullet found in chip could have been fired from Chip's own gun another expert who took the stand was the crime scene
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unit investigator who evaluated the fingerprint evidence on Chip's truck he testified that the only identifiable
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Prince belonged to Kim HCK no prints match Crosley green none on the outside of the car none on the steering wheel or
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the gearshift this was key for juror Alma Jean Bloss when you don't find fingerprints that was my biggest thing
00:10:44
was the fingerprints no fingerprints when he drove a truck and no gloves mentioned did he have gloves on did he
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put his socks on his hands but when I spoke to prosecutor white he said this fact never concerned him let me explain
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why I didn't okay number one I know that fingerprints aren't always left if they
00:11:03
were my conviction rate would be higher okay number two Kim was in that truck she climbed in that truck to get away
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she drove that truck she touched all the places where Crosley green would have touched she could have smudged every
00:11:20
single print that he left or it may be that his hands weren't placed on those places in such a way that it could leave
00:11:27
a good print he may have moved to fingers around everything he touched I don't know later in the trial the
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prosecutors questioned the police dog handler he and his dog were called to holder Park early on the morning after
00:11:40
the murder to try to find and track a fresh scent from the crime scene they ran a dog track from the what they
00:11:48
believe was the defendant scent along the track of the the uh tennis shoe PR the defense objected to the testimony
00:11:56
and the jury was asked to leave the courtroom Parker argued to the judge that the
00:12:02
witness was not qualified as an expert in dog handling and more importantly that the state could not prove that the
00:12:09
dog was actually following the scent of the person who left those shoeprints but the judge allowed the
00:12:16
testimony in and the trial resumed under Chris White's questioning the dog handler shared that his dog picked up a
00:12:24
sent at the crime scene and followed the shoeprints out of the park for about 2/10 of a mile until they disappeared at
00:12:33
the edge of the pavement they continued to track the sand along the road following it all the way to the house of
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Crosley Green's sister Tina who lived just about a half mile from holder Park but perhaps the most important
00:12:50
witness called by the prosecution was none other than Kim hoc herself she was a very nervous person on the stand juror
00:12:59
Amma Jean Bloss remembered Kim's demeanor she chewed gum constantly and real loud like you know and it was uh
00:13:09
she was very jittery she couldn't really look at the courtroom she's looking at the floor Kim's testimony began on the
00:13:17
first day of the trial and lasted into the second White's colleague Phil Williams asked him about identifying her
00:13:25
as salent on a photo lineup at the sheriff's department that identification was one of the most damaging pieces of
00:13:32
evidence at trial you know that's potent potent evidence potent stuff in a pre-trial hearing Parker had tried and
00:13:41
failed to keep Kim's identification of Crosley in that photo lineup out of the trial because crosley's photo had been
00:13:49
darker than the five other men the photographic lineup the procedure was was an unnecessarily suggested
00:13:59
technique which would result in a substantial likelihood of in court misidentification I later asked white if
00:14:06
he agreed that that photo lineup was suggestive I I think there's an argument that it is but I think there's also an
00:14:13
argument that she looked at it and she what would she necessarily think that they're trying to point me to the
00:14:19
darkest one maybe they're trying to point her to the lightest one um you know you're you're again there's a deal
00:14:27
of speculation that goes into to what effect that had the prosecution asked Kim halik if she could look around the
00:14:34
courtroom and see the person who pulled the gun on chip took them in the truck tied chip up and shot him Kim said yes
00:14:44
and then pointed directly at Crosley as you can imagine it was a dramatic moment Parker then had to
00:14:56
cross-examine Kim but he knew knew he'd have to tread carefully well you know anytime you have young woman who has
00:15:05
suffered through this kind of a nightmare you want to be very careful with that but he also picked up on
00:15:11
something in that particular moment Kim was responding to a question about seeing the black male with a gun
00:15:18
shooting chip when she was interviewed by police she had said she only heard the shots that was news that came out
00:15:28
for the first time and we pointed that out first time you ever told anybody that was now in front of this jury
00:15:33
Parker pushed Kim a bit he asked her you didn't see anything you just heard shots
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didn't you she responded that she saw a black male standing there with a gun but
00:15:44
admitted she didn't tell that to the police for Parker creating doubt around Kim's identification of Crosley as the
00:15:53
as salent was crucial he wanted to create Reasonable Doubt in the minds of the jurors
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uh it was pitch dark there was a canopy of trees over the area where uh this allegedly occurred Parker asked him if
00:16:07
she saw what the man looked like when he first approached the vehicle she said no
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he then asked if she got a good look at the man when they left holder park for the Orange Grove she replied that her
00:16:19
head was down most of the time and when asked if she had a chance to look at his
00:16:24
face in the Orange Grove she said she didn't never never seen the person before but for the photographic lineup
00:16:33
but when we get to the courtroom she says that's him uh but still as far as description goes can't really describe
00:16:41
this person can't remember what her description was can't remember what she told the police here's what juror Alma
00:16:47
Jean Bloss thought every answer was I don't know I don't know or she just didn't know she couldn't answer the
00:16:55
questions that was asked her she did No in fact Kim said the phrase I'm not sure close to 50 times
00:17:04
while she was being questioned by Parker she also had changed her description of
00:17:09
the suspect's hair when talking to police that first time she described it quote thick kind of long afro at trial
00:17:19
she testified that the man's hair was styled with gel and that it came down to a little over the year actually she she
00:17:27
called them ringlets and they and and her description was she'd take her finger and she'd run them down so I
00:17:32
envisioned this kind of longer hair with ringlets to me it was this unique hairstyle and she was very clear about
00:17:40
that very clear about it and in fact then what did croset green look like at that time well as you know he had just
00:17:46
gotten out of prison he had a buzz cut um he had very short hair all the witnesses who saw him at holder Park
00:17:52
said he had a buzz cut when I spoke to White about that inconsistency he was dismissive might
00:17:59
they lie about his hair if it would help him do you think all of its friends said everybody
00:18:07
else you interviewed every witness said he had short crop tears I don't know that we uh actually interviewed
00:18:14
everybody Parker also asked kimh why she didn't seek help for chiplin by going to
00:18:19
a nearby house or even the local hospital after leaving the Orange Grove remember Kim claimed she drove directly
00:18:28
to David group's trailer after fleeing the Orange Grove his trailer was 4 miles away she's from this area she knows
00:18:36
where the hospital is she knows that there's probably a police officer there because generally they have security
00:18:42
there uh at the hospital um if not a police officer armed security officer she doesn't go to the hospital and my
00:18:50
answer to that is you know what should I make of that and I have handled many cases where people have been victimized
00:18:57
some of them uh were present when other people are killed or when robberies happened or maybe they were just raped
00:19:03
or and beaten or whatever those people don't always act very rationally when all of that is said and done I can't
00:19:09
hold her to the standard that the defense team here wants to hold her to that they should have done she should
00:19:15
have done everything the exact way they think is most logical I I refuse to hold
00:19:19
her to that standard I'm sorry according to Kim's testimony at trial she said it
00:19:25
only took her a couple of minutes to drive to David's trailer but according to her police tape statement the time
00:19:33
between when she left the Grove and called 911 meant that the drive actually took
00:19:39
her up to an hour it's an inexplicable chunk of missing time and it was crucial time for Chip he was laying there dying
00:19:51
every moment counted but at trial Rob Parker did not question Kim about this time discrep
00:20:00
Parker did ask him some intimate details whether she was in love with chip she said yes she also acknowledged that they
00:20:09
had been sexually involved Parker then asked if Kim was aware that chip had been sexually involved with another
00:20:17
woman named Patty lney Kim said she didn't know for sure but admitted that she and Chip did discuss his
00:20:24
relationship with Patty that evening at holder Park when Parker then asked if it
00:20:30
made her angry that chip was having a sexual relationship with Patty she replied that it made her upset looking
00:20:37
at the facts and circumstances that we had I wanted to suggest that to the jury that Hey listen here's a situation where
00:20:45
chip and her had dated they had been uh sexually involved there was a breakup chip was seeing someone new and uh kind
00:20:55
of out of the blue he drives by and he and Kim go parking and I thought it was I thought the jury
00:21:02
needed to understand that that was a fact they should consider Rob Parker also got Kim to admit something she had
00:21:10
previously denied to police that she and Chip smoked marijuana that night in holder park there was clothing from the
00:21:18
truck that was strewn out in the uh in the area where this event occurred in the Orange Grove um brush was Pat padded
00:21:27
down and matted down um what did that suggest to you suggested to me that they might have
00:21:33
been out uh uh Making Love on the ground or or something along those lines the fact that Kim and Chip had
00:21:42
been somewhat at odds that night that chip could have been shot with his own gun and that missing chunk of time
00:21:51
didn't quite fit inside the jigsaw puzzle that prosecutor white described in his opening statement there were some
00:21:59
missing pieces some pieces forced into place and that might have tipped the scale and crosley's favor but the state
00:22:09
was not yet finished calling Witnesses and one big puzzle piece was about to be revealed your sister comes in and says
00:22:18
you told her that you did it oh yeah oh yeah so so what was the evidence that convinced the jury well his sister
00:22:33
testified against him and she came in with shackles in uniform and it was sad and she had four children that's juror
00:22:41
Alma Jean Bloss again she's talking about the most shocking moment of the trial when on the second day of the
00:22:48
state's case crosley's sister Sheila appeared in court to testify against him I remember that she kind of turned she
00:22:58
could look at him crosley's older sister Shirley was also in the courtroom watching how difficult was that it was
00:23:07
very difficult the jurge told me that if I look at her and roll my eyes they going to take
00:23:15
me out the courtroom because Sheila was afraid of me and they kept her back there in the
00:23:22
room I just want to make sure you heard that Shirley said that she was warned that if she rolled her eye at her sister
00:23:30
they were going to take her out of the courtroom would she look at you at all when she was testifying she hold her
00:23:37
head down every time I try to sit so I can see her and look her in the face and ask her
00:23:44
why at the start of this episode we heard from Crosley that nothing could break his family apart remember so why
00:23:53
would his younger sister Sheila turn on her Flesh and Blood well Alma mentioned the shackles Sheila was incarcerated and
00:24:03
facing serious prison time for drug charges well one of my charges carry 10 to life and the other one carry
00:24:13
5 to 40 years but the overall of the sagittary um guidelines it was 97 to 121 months oh my God for drug charges yes
00:24:23
did they promise you anything if you testified against your brother yeah I supposed to got a light
00:24:29
sentence but what exactly did you say in court you testified against your brother
00:24:33
in court what did you say for not mistaken I think I said I seen him I asked him did he do it and he
00:24:42
said yes and I cried or something to that effect I I can't remember when the prosecution questioned Sheila she
00:24:52
testified that she saw Crosley the day after the shooting at their sister Tina's house she said she asked him
00:24:59
about the rumor that he had killed chip Flynn and that at first Crosley denied it but then she says he admitted that
00:25:08
quote he didn't intentionally make it happen that way Sheila said that Crosley referred to chip as the dude and said
00:25:17
that the dude pulled a gun on him and motioned for the female passenger to run for help and that the two men struggled
00:25:26
over the gun she said that Crosley then told her that it was either going to be him or chip Sheila told the jury quote I
00:25:36
wanted to cry and say no papa but said that her brother told her he'd be all right what did that feel like on the
00:25:48
stand I felt horrible up until this point defense attorney Parker thought the trial was
00:25:57
going pretty well for his client but it was undeniable that crosley's sister's testimony was a major hit to his case
00:26:06
some plea deal discussions had taken place before trial but after Sheila's testimony an official plea deal was
00:26:15
offered Crosley was looking at 10 years in prison if he plag guilty so I've now gotten him into a position where he does
00:26:24
not have to face the electric chair he does not have to face the rest of his life in prison I'm feeling pretty good
00:26:31
you recommend him to take it well we talked about it and talked about it and talked about it and um he said I didn't
00:26:36
do it I okay so he turned it down turned it down why should I take it why didn't
00:26:42
you why didn't it listen I didn't kill that young man okay I'm telling you I keep telling you I didn't kill this
00:26:51
young man so why should I take that PL bargain why should I but the damaging evidence wasn't over the state didn't
00:27:01
just want Sheila to testify they wanted me to convince Lonnie Hillary my he was my fiance at the time they wanted me to
00:27:10
convince him to also testify because they felt that he will listen to me Sheila's fiance Lonnie Hillary took the
00:27:18
stand after Sheila he told the court that sometime on the morning following the shooting he noticed that Crosley
00:27:25
wasn't acting like himself that he looked looked shaky and scared Lonnie testified that Crosley told him quote I
00:27:34
fed up man I up Lonnie also told the jury that Crosley told him a man and woman wanted to buy something from him
00:27:43
and that he got in their truck and rode off with them he said that Crosley told him quote they hustled for a bit and the
00:27:51
woman took off according to Lonnie that's when Crosley said he [ __ ] up the prosecution also asked Lonnie about
00:27:59
crosley's clothes Lonnie said he was wearing blue jeans and looked scuffed up like he had been in the dirt Lonnie went
00:28:07
on to say that later in the week Crosley told him that he got rid of the clothes
00:28:13
and that everything was going to be all right these Witnesses against Crosley were incredibly damning even though the
00:28:21
jury was also told that Sheila was promised a more lenient sentence if she testified against her brother
00:28:28
and that she convinced her fiance to do the same it hurt for to hear a sister and brother one testify against the
00:28:39
other I asked Parker about how reliable this kind of testimony can be isn't that
00:28:45
a very strong incentive for that witness to lie oh absolutely to save herself absolutely no question about it do you
00:28:53
think that happened in that case um I think that is something you have to explore as a defense lawyer anytime that
00:28:58
happens and I think I pointed that out to the jury and they just didn't believe that they believe that she wouldn't say
00:29:07
that against her own brother to avoid a federal prison sentence I took a look at
00:29:13
some of the local papers from the time and realized that Sheila testified against Crosley on that Wednesday August
00:29:21
29th and then on Thursday August 30th testified against her other brother OK Conor green at his sentencing hearing
00:29:31
all before she faced sentencing about a month later on September 24th that's three of the green siblings
00:29:40
facing the court system in one month's time that stands out to me but nothing about that situation surprised Crosley
00:29:51
that's a thing that's been used in this system for so long they bringing family testify against family friends T get
00:29:59
friend but on false statements okay and that's wrong and that's wrong that's very
00:30:09
wrong someone else who came forward as a state witness was Alan Jerome Murray he
00:30:15
told the court that soon after the shooting a group of about 20 to 30 men were talking on the corner in Mims
00:30:22
referred to as 21 Jump Street Allan said Crosley was there and told them that he
00:30:29
had just killed a man and that he was going to quote disappear but Allan also admitted on the
00:30:36
stand that he was under the influence of alcohol at the time and that the group of men there was known to use cocaine
00:30:45
although Allan said he was not using cocaine at that moment Sheila green Lonnie Hillary and
00:30:54
even Alan Jerome Murray were powerful Witnesses but they all spoke about conversations
00:31:00
with Crosley after the murder the state needed Witnesses who could place Crosley
00:31:06
near the crime scenes on the night of like Willie Hampton the Umpire of the Little League game that evening he
00:31:14
testified that he saw Crosley at holder Park and that Crosley was wearing a jacket that matched Kim's
00:31:21
description the prosecution also called a witness who knew both the green and Flynn family
00:31:28
I mean it was a very well-known trial back then a lot of people was following this trial remember Tim Curtis from the
00:31:35
local body shop he was the one who told police that the police sketch looked like Crosley green and he was the one
00:31:43
who sold the truck to chip Flynn I notice also in your testimony you said to the jury I sold chip the truck that
00:31:52
he was abducted in which I I know the defense was not happy with because making that assumption he was abducted
00:32:00
well well at that time Aaron In fairness to everyone that's that's what the story
00:32:05
was Chip was abducted taken down the road and shot during his opening statements White had told the jury that
00:32:13
they would hear a police dog handler testify about how his dog tracked the shoeprints at holder Park to crosley's
00:32:20
sister's house when Tim Curtis took the stand white asked him about the last time he had seen Crosley at his sister
00:32:29
Tina's house Tim said he had seen him there in the afternoon just hours before the murder took
00:32:38
[Music] place Tim remembers that day like it was yesterday he later told me that shortly
00:32:48
after he testified on that Thursday August 30th the third day of the trial the judge called for a break Tim says he
00:32:56
went out to his vehicle hicle and looked over at another car and i' looked over um at the person driving and noticed it
00:33:06
was a male and I thought wow I think that's one of the jurors the juror looked right back at
00:33:14
him he took his thumb as if it was a knife and stuck it in the side of his neck and Drug it across his throat and
00:33:21
to be honest with you I I think I look back at him and may have give him a thumbs up or you know had a boy or
00:33:27
whatever I asked him what he thought that jur hand motion meant I took it as uh crosley's
00:33:36
guilty the next day Tim says he went back to work at the body shop and Bobby cook a longtime customer came in worried
00:33:44
about his car then Bobby brought up the trial and asked you know ain't you involved in that case and I said yeah
00:33:52
and he goes how do you think the trial is going I said well I think they got him found guilty and he goes why you say
00:33:57
that and I told Bobby that what you had seen the juror do mhm Yeah Tim told Bobby about that juror in the parking
00:34:05
lot what Tim didn't realize was that Bobby cook was a private investigator for none other than crosley's defense
00:34:14
attorney Rob Parker and now Tim's Body Shop gossip could have very real consequences for the trial
00:34:25
[Music] this was a Six-Day trial and on the first four days from Tuesday August 28th
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to Friday August 31st the prosecution called a total of 26 Witnesses the jurors went home for the
00:34:45
weekend but it wasn't just any weekend it was Labor Day weekend so they had three full days off to digest the
00:34:55
evidence they were not sequestered when they returned on the morning of Tuesday September 4th defense attorney
00:35:03
Parker motioned for a mistrial four times Oh I thought I was going to get a Mist
00:35:09
[Music] trial what do you mean what did you think well there was so much going on in
00:35:14
that trial the defense took issue with the introduction of the photo lineup That depicted crosley's photo is darker
00:35:22
than all the others the dog tracking evidence because the prosecution could not prove Pro that the scent tract
00:35:29
belonged to Crosley and Kim's father's testimony which Parker said was quote nothing but the hearsay statements of
00:35:38
Miss Kim HCK Parker had also learned about Tim Curtis's alleged interaction with that juror and Parker claimed that
00:35:47
his client couldn't get a fair trial Tim Curtis was called back to the courtroom
00:35:54
the judge explained to him in front of the jurors why he been brought back he goes well you had an incident in the
00:36:01
parking lot and then it just like at that point look like my whole brain and mind just like went completely numb the
00:36:09
judge asked him to identify the juror he saw in the parking lot I I I would say that in my
00:36:21
heart I didn't even look at the juries I didn't even focus my attention on them and turned and answered him and I said
00:36:30
no I don't see this person in the courtroom even though Curtis admits he did yes because afterwards I'd seen the
00:36:39
juror sitting up there you know and I was like wow that that was a guy why didn't Tim tell the judge the truth this
00:36:48
is his explanation that's feeling pressured but I think most of all it's just I think to
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be honest with you I was thinking of Chip and thinking man I'm not gonna I'm not going to see this case ruined for
00:36:59
you in my in my thoughts you know that I was more concerned with this case isn't
00:37:04
going to be ruined because of me Tim didn't want to mistrial so he lied and sure enough all the Motions for mist
00:37:13
trials were denied it was time for the defense to make its case Parker called five
00:37:22
additional witnesses to the stand a shoeprint expert who said that the shoe prints at holder Park could have matched
00:37:30
more than 10 different brands the chief umpire at holder Park who spoke to Crosley that evening and
00:37:38
said he wasn't wearing a jacket and had short hair and a friend of Kim's who saw
00:37:44
her early in the morning of April 4th and testified that she had grass stains on the back of her shirt the jury also
00:37:53
heard from James K the ex-boyfriend of crosley's cousin and carlen who had been arguing with carlen at her house that
00:38:01
night James testified that he remembered seeing Crosley sometime before 1:00 a.m.
00:38:09
but the jury never heard from cousin carlen or most surprising to me crosley's other Alibi witness Lori
00:38:17
Reigns who said Crosley was at her house starting at about 11 p.m. Rob Parker's last witness was
00:38:26
Crosley sister Tina whose house was at the center of so much of the prior testimony she testified that their other
00:38:35
sister Sheila never told her that Crosley admitted to killing chip Flynn Crosley himself never took the
00:38:43
stand because he says Parker advised him not to Parker said that as the trial was
00:38:49
winding down Crosley was feeling optimistic he always felt like it would work out he always told me it'll work
00:38:58
out it's that he'd be acquitted everything's going to work out I mean he he kind of comforted me I guess um and
00:39:05
he seem to have a confidence that it'll work out on the sixth and final day of the trial the case went to the jury they
00:39:14
were out only 3 hours Alma Jean blah says she was the last to hold out I had my doubts and I still have my doubts
00:39:28
what made you finally give in and vote to convict him I it was most of them all and I I
00:39:39
kind of just at the end you give up the clerk read the jury's verdict aloud guilty of robbery kidnapping and
00:39:50
first deegree felon murder they all had that feeling that he did it from the beginning maybe that
00:39:58
feeling also had something to do with the fact that the phrase black man or black male was said over 100 times over
00:40:07
the course of the trial I asked Parker if he thought the racial makeup of the jury had any impact on that verdict I
00:40:15
mean do you think it made a difference there was this all-white jury that a young white man had been
00:40:21
killed and here is a black man who doesn't take the stand you know the only thing I can
00:40:28
we can all speculate certainly I'm not naive enough to think that uh that there are some on that jury that may have had
00:40:35
some racial bias maybe even significant racial bias um if they did they denied it when we addressed it I also asked
00:40:43
Parker about crosley's reaction to the verdict you know to be honest with you it seems to me that the impact it had on
00:40:53
me was such that I I think I was so stunned that um I'm not sure I can recall how he how
00:41:03
he handled it but Crosley remembers [Music] guilty that's all that's all I can remember was guilty after that I shut
00:41:16
everything off what do you mean after that I just shut everything out just shut everything
00:41:24
out see I had a my family was there and I didn't want them to get angry or upset stuff like that yeah because I
00:41:32
didn't want it no scene no nothing I was angry but why let something just explode but for the folks on the other
00:41:46
side of the courtroom Justice had been served especially for Chip's parents Charles and Peggy I think we got the
00:41:55
right man did you have any questions in your mind at all when that verdict was reached no no man I would later look
00:42:02
back at the defenses strategies and wonder is there anything else Parker could have done for Crosley I asked J
00:42:11
Alma Jean Bloss how would you describe his defense the way it was handled well maybe his defense wasn't strong
00:42:21
enough maybe maybe he did maybe he I don't know maybe should have got got somebody else
00:42:28
I don't know I just there may have been better out there that could have helped him more I don't know it wasn't yet over
00:42:36
for Crosley that same jury now had to decide whether he would face life in prison or death by
00:42:48
execution the jury advisory sentencing hearing took place a little over 3 weeks later on September 27th 19 90 now Parker
00:42:59
was forced to take a different approach he argued that if the jury believed that
00:43:05
Crosley was guilty of murder he had to come up with evidence that showed that Crosley didn't want to kill Kim or chip
00:43:13
that he instinctively fired back after chip fired the first shots Parker pleaded with the jury quote please don't
00:43:24
overreact but prosecutor white argued that the killing was heinous atrocious and cruel he asked the jury quote what
00:43:34
could be worse than to murder someone kill someone over money just over money judge anun also allowed white to inform
00:43:43
the jury of crosley's Prior conviction in New York for armed robbery when Crosley was just
00:43:50
18 however Crosley was never convicted of armed robbery but had instead pledged guilty to a lesser nonviolent crime that
00:44:00
plea was also expunged from crosley's record due to his youthful offender status if 3 hours sounds short for
00:44:10
deliberating the murder charges against Crosley it only took a little more than an hour for the jurors to decide whether
00:44:17
he would live or die the jury 8 to4 recommended that Crosley green receive the death penalty he was officially
00:44:27
sentenced to death row on February 8th 1991 a devastating blow to many of his family members including his two sons
00:44:38
schuma age 16 and Gaston age six once they sign your warrant to be executed you going to be
00:44:48
executed and that scared the hell out of me I wouldn't learn about crosley's case
00:44:55
until almost 10 years later later and after reviewing the evidence I had doubts that Crosley committed this crime
00:45:03
and on top of that key Witnesses from The Trial were coming forward to change their
00:45:12
stories on the next episode of Murder in the Orange Grove the troubled case against Crosley green every time I look
00:45:21
at news and hear about individual death R I think about my brother and I knew that he's there not only for my
00:45:30
statement but for other people's statement but I knew mine was a lie murder in the Orange Grove was
00:45:50
reported by me Aon morard alongside producers Alan Pang Annie Cronenberg and Alice Bailey Kiara norbitz is our
00:45:59
coordinating producer and Florence brough Adams is our story editor additional production support from Dylan
00:46:07
Gordon Marlon polycarp Caroline Casey and Christine Driscoll Judy tigart is the executive producer of 48 Hours Gail
00:46:16
Zimmerman asena basak Mark goom Charlotte Fuller Judy Ryback and Steven McCain produced the original 48 Hours
00:46:26
episodes associate producers were Michael Loftus and Shaheen Toki Patty aronowski was the senior
00:46:34
producer special thanks to Megan Marcus Jamie Benson Nick poser and Gail [Music]
00:46:51
spru Paramount podcasts e