TALLAHASSEE – The Florida Commission on Offender Review on Wednesday denied immediate parole for Crosley Green, the former death row inmate who has spent more than 35 years behind bars for a 1989 Brevard County murder he has always insisted he did not commit. The panel instead shaved five years off his presumptive parole date, moving it from 2054 to June 2, 2049, when Green will be 91 years old.
The decision, first reported Wednesday afternoon by FOX 35 Orlando, is the latest setback in one of the Space Coast’s longest-running and most closely watched criminal cases. Green, now 68, was convicted in 1990 of first-degree felony murder, kidnapping and robbery in the shooting death of 22-year-old Charles “Chip” Flynn Jr. in Mims. He was sentenced to death and spent roughly 19 years on death row before being resentenced to life in prison in 2009.
Two Years of Freedom, Then Back to Prison
In 2018, a federal judge in Orlando threw out Green’s conviction after finding Brevard County prosecutors withheld evidence from the defense, including notes from a witness interview indicating that two responding law enforcement officers suspected the victim’s ex-girlfriend, not Green, had committed the crime. Green was conditionally released in April 2021 while the state appealed. He lived and worked in Titusville for about two years before the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals reinstated his conviction. After the U.S. Supreme Court declined to take the case, Green returned to a Florida prison in April 2023.
At Wednesday’s hearing in Tallahassee, Green’s pro bono legal team from the Crowell & Moring law firm pointed to those two years on the outside as proof he could safely return to the community, saying he held a job, cared for his family, attended church every Sunday and never got in trouble. Attorney Vincent Galluzzo told commissioners he had copies of 200 support letters submitted on Green’s behalf, and more than 300 people attended a prayer vigil for Green last month at Bethlehem Missionary Baptist Church in Titusville. A former prison warden, Green’s former employer and a pastor were among those who spoke in support of his release.
Surviving Victim Urges Panel to Keep Green Locked Up
Kim Hallock, who was with Flynn the night of the shooting and survived, urged the commission to keep Green in prison for as long as the law allows. She told commissioners she still believes Green is responsible and that the memory of that night has never left her.
One member of the commission agreed with Green’s request for release. According to FLORIDA TODAY, one commissioner voted to cut Green’s parole eligibility date by 330 months, which would have made him eligible this December. The full commission did not go along, instead voting to reduce the date by 60 months. The panel did agree to review Green’s case again in three years rather than the usual seven.
Even the 2049 date comes with a catch. Commission officials said that if Green is ever granted parole on his current sentence, he would not be released to the community. He would instead begin serving a consecutive 17-year sentence and would have to come back before the commission again before any release.
‘We Will Not Stop Until He Is Home’
Lead attorney Keith Harrison said the defense team was deeply disappointed and called Green an extraordinary candidate for parole, citing his spotless disciplinary record over more than three decades in custody. “We will not stop until he is home,” Harrison said in a statement released after the hearing, adding that the legal team will keep pursuing every available path, including a pending appeal in state court.
That state court fight centers on what Green’s lawyers say is a math error with life-altering consequences. In a 2024 petition, they argued the commission miscalculated Green’s presumptive parole release date back in 2015 by improperly counting underlying offenses against him, arbitrarily adding more than 40 years to his time. Calculated correctly, they contend, Green would have been eligible for parole in 2014. A Tallahassee circuit judge ruled last year that the commission is not required to correct the date, and that ruling is on appeal.
Timeline of the Crosley Green Case
- 1989: Green is arrested in the killing of Chip Flynn Jr. in Mims
- 1990: Convicted of first-degree felony murder, kidnapping and robbery; sentenced to death
- 2009: Death sentence overturned; resentenced to life in prison
- 2018: A federal judge vacates the conviction, finding prosecutors withheld evidence
- April 2021: Green is conditionally released while the state appeals
- 2022-2023: The 11th Circuit reinstates the conviction; the U.S. Supreme Court declines review
- April 2023: Green returns to prison after two years of freedom
- June 2023: Commission denies parole, sets presumptive release date of 2054
- August 12, 2026: Commission again denies immediate parole, moves the date up five years to 2049
Timeline compiled by Marie Edinger, Fox35
Green remains in state custody. The Space Coast Rocket will continue to follow his state court appeal and any future action by the Commission on Offender Review.
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