Convicted cop killer faces new charges
Man accused of threatening officer, disorderly conduct
By Bo Petersen
The case seared through the racial divide in the Lowcountry: Days before his 20th birthday, a Yonges Island man was charged with killing a sheriff's deputy and shooting out the eye of a second deputy while being arrested for cursing at them.
Ross Clayton Green
Ross Clayton Green was a well-known and well-liked sports hero in his community. He claimed he was roughed up and framed for the shooting in the 1982 arrest. Green is black; the officers were white. Hundreds marched in protests of racial outrage. The first trial, a death penalty case, ended in a mistrial. Green was convicted of manslaughter and assault and battery in a second trial.
Now, 10 years after his release from prison, Green, 46, is back in jail — charged with disorderly conduct and threatening the life of a police officer.
Arrested last week in a disturbance involving a woman at the Budget Inn in Hollywood, he told a Charleston County sheriff's deputy, "I'm going to ---- you up and it's going to hurt" as he was being put in the squad car, according to an affidavit.
Green of Meggett remains jailed under a $5,000 bond, awaiting a May court hearing.
"I figured it was going to happen. I'm just surprised it took so long. ... He just has no respect for the law," said Michael O'Connell, the former deputy who lost his eye in the 1982 shooting and was accused by Green of shooting himself as they fought. O'Connell tried to return to duty but never recovered well enough.
"It's eerily similar, if he did what he's alleged to have done," said Charlie Condon, the former 9th Circuit solicitor who fended off public cries of a police cover-up and calls for an attorney general investigation when he sought the second trial against Green. "It brings back some sad memories here. It's such a waste, his life, the lives of both of those officers."
Eugene Jenkins, chairman of the local Congress for Racial Equality, was one of a number of high-profile community activists who rose to Green's defense saying he couldn't get a fair trial. He was quite surprised to hear about Green's latest trouble, he said. "Still yet I can only hear one side of the story, so it's difficult to assess why he went off the way he did, if he did what they allege."
But given the stigma of the conviction, Jenkins said he would have thought Green would keep as low a profile as possible, especially with the police.
In 1982, while on patrol in the late hours of an October night, O'Connell spotted Green's car driving back and forth in front of a convenience store on S.C. Highway 162, where Green had earlier been involved in what the manager said was an attempt to shoplift beer and steal gasoline. When the car turned to follow the manager home after closing, O'Connell and Deputy Steven Hiott followed, O'Connell said in a 1992 interview.
Green pulled off the road and began using profanity when officers approached. He was told to stop or be arrested for disorderly conduct. He didn't and the officers each grabbed an arm to handcuff him. Green broke away and Hiott was shot in the heart with O'Connell's gun.
A jury of black and white jurors couldn't reach a verdict, and Condon reduced the charges in the second trial to overcome resistance in what he called a racially charged case. Green was denied parole three times before being released in 1998 when his sentence was deemed completed.
In the latest incident, Green was being charged with traffic violations for driving a car with a female passenger's door open, sheriff's Maj. John Clark said.
In 1982, Charleston County Sheriff Al Cannon was a practicing attorney who had talked with Hiott about the deputy's desire to practice law before he was killed. Green has had minor brushes with the law since his 1998 release, Cannon said.
"I think the guy (Green) has always been a hothead. He overreacts; he reacts irrationally at times. He doesn't like to be confronted by authority figures," Cannon said.
Reach Bo Petersen at 937-5744 or bpetersen@postandcourier.com.
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Comments
palmettoruckus (anonymous) says...
FIRST!
March 24, 2009 at 12:47 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
spengler (anonymous) says...
This hothead may be the dude who wacked Anwaar.
March 24, 2009 at 6:04 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
sandnateater (anonymous) says...
I guess all you people that yelled racism are looking pretty stupid now!
March 24, 2009 at 7:52 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
Clemsurf (anonymous) says...
Ok so he kills a police officer and shoots another one's eye out and only did 17 years???? Something is definitely wrong with our judicial system.
March 24, 2009 at 8:27 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
theronce (anonymous) says...
I would like to know what Green has to say about this latest incident.
March 24, 2009 at 9:04 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
Elvisfan68 (anonymous) says...
Surprise,Surprise!!!!!!!!!!!!! I say hang him in a tree.
March 24, 2009 at 9:08 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
beefsaver (anonymous) says...
Presumed guilty until proven innocent, right?
He was given 17 years for manslaughter, assault and battery. He was not convicted of murder, no doubt due to the competing testimony of the only two witnesses present... Green and O'Connell. One could be convicted of manslaughter if you cause a car crash while speeding... do we expect life imprisonment for that as well?
If he is found guilty, Mr. Green will get a severe sentence for what amounts to shooting his mouth off and a traffic offense.
March 24, 2009 at 9:36 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
mb300sl (anonymous) says...
Let him escape so he can be shot and killed...I don't want my tax dollars feeding and housing this POS...
March 24, 2009 at 9:56 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
jselsey1 (anonymous) says...
Hang him and hang him high.It will not be long before he kills someone else.Miss Scarlett take a close look at this and do what you said you would do for repeters.......Law enforcement needs help from all citizens.If you cannot stand behind the Law Please do not hide behind the christian Cross.....
March 24, 2009 at 9:58 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
follyb (anonymous) says...
After killing a police officer, wounding an officer and now threatening another, it sounds like more than shooting his mouth off
March 24, 2009 at 10:01 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
maeko (anonymous) says...
You can get arrested for cursing at someone?
Obviously, the latest incident involved a threat, but what was said the first time? Did he yell profanity at the cops or something? Just curious.
March 24, 2009 at 10:19 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
JDHawg (anonymous) says...
Days before his 20th birthday, a Yonges Island man was charged with killing a sheriff's deputy and shooting out the eye of a second deputy while being arrested for cursing at them.
Ross Clayton Green was a well-known and well-liked sports hero in his community.
============================================================
Wow a sports hero and before he was 20 I'm impressed :-}
March 24, 2009 at 12:30 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
UrGatorbait (anonymous) says...
A sports hero?, no wonder some people will call it racism. Worshiping of sports "icons" is an American past time.
March 24, 2009 at 2:04 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
SCPDBLUE (anonymous) says...
What we have here is a lack of respect for authority. This scumbag does not need to be let out among human beings,he should be locked in a 8x10 cell never to see the light of day.He proves he is scumbag.
March 24, 2009 at 2:23 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
BPFROM843 (anonymous) says...
the cops are obviously harrassing this man because he killed one of their own in self defense and is out to talk about it
March 24, 2009 at 3:54 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
burton (anonymous) says...
Yea, this guy is scum but can we please stop with the "hanging" references? We all know the history with hanging and African Americans.
March 24, 2009 at 6:10 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
mf105 (anonymous) says...
Looks like he just could not stay out of trouble
No. Case ID | Def. ID CT* DEFENDANT Filing Date D* Warrant/Citation
01 GS10 2007 004890 | A 01 GREEN, ROSS CLAYTON 01 09 2007 K218376
02 OW10 2007 000043 | A 01 GREEN, ROSS CLAYTON 01 09 2007 K218376
03 OW10 2009 001618 | A 01 GREEN, ROSS CLAYTON 03 19 2009 K379315
04 SU68 2001 002402 | A 01 GREEN, ROSS CLAYTON 07 17 2001 Y805869
05 SU68 2004 000284 | A 01 GREEN, ROSS CLAYTON 01 29 2004 71499CR
06 SU69 2002 012579 | A 01 GREEN, ROSS CLAYTON 08 24 2002 G740239
07 SU69 2002 013580 | A 01 GREEN, ROSS CLAYTON 09 10 2002 57480CG
08 SU69 2006 008955 | A 01 GREEN, ROSS CLAYTON 07 17 2006 46354DS
09 SU69 2008 003545 | A 01 GREEN, ROSS CLAYTON 03 26 2008 42237EJ
10 SU78 2000 006551 | A 01 GREEN, ROSS CLAYTON 08 07 2000 89356BQ
11 SU78 2000 006551 | A 02 GREEN, ROSS CLAYTON 08 07 2000 89357BQ
12 SU78 2004 002561 | A 01 GREEN, ROSS CLAYTON 04 28 2004 B372901
13 SU78 2007 006138 | A 01 GREEN, ROSS CLAYTON 11 25 2007 Z593599
14 SU78 2007 006138 | A 02 GREEN, ROSS CLAYTON 11 25 2007 Z593600
15 SU78 2009 001850 | A 01 GREEN, ROSS CLAYTON 03 18 2009 18094EV
16 SU78 2009 001850 | A 02 GREEN, ROSS CLAYTON 03 18 2009 18095EV
* CT = Charge count number D = Case Disposed
March 24, 2009 at 8:44 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
mungojerrie (anonymous) says...
Burton, I am with you. I understand crime and punishment, but the talk of hanging is taking it too far. It's blatant racism, and it's trite. Step into the 21st century, fellas.
March 26, 2009 at 9:50 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
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