Curtis Flowers freed on bond for the first time in more than two decades, six trials Anonymous donor paying Flowers' bail

Alissa Zhu | Mississippi Clarion Ledger

Show Caption Hide Caption Curtis Flowers bail hearing Curtis Flowers freed on bond for the first time in more than two decades, six trials

Flowers has been tried six times in a quadruple homicide more than two decades ago

It's up to the district attorney whether to try Flowers a seventh time

Flowers case has drawn national attention after it was featured on the 'In the Dark' podcast

WINONA — For the first time in more than 20 years, Curtis Flowers will be allowed to return home to his family.

Throughout a decades-long legal saga — as Flowers was tried six times for the same crime — he stayed behind bars, shuttling between the Mississippi State Penitentiary, also known as Parchman prison, and local jails.

On Monday, a judge granted him bond, allowing Flowers to leave jail to live with his family in Winona while his case — potentially a seventh trial — makes its way through court. His bond was set at $250,000 and his attorney said an anonymous donor is providing bail money. Flowers was taken back to the Winston-Choctaw County Regional Correctional Facility after Monday's hearing and he was expected to be released by mid-afternoon.

The judge ordered electronic monitoring of Flowers while he is out. He would only be allowed to leave the residence for medical treatment or meetings with his attorney.

Flowers was calm and showed no visible reaction as the decision was announced, but his sister and daughter, who were in the courtroom, were clearly emotional.

Flowers' daughter Crystal Ghoston said she's excited to hug her father for the first time in 10 years and she cried "tears of joy" when the decision was read. She said she's looking forward to a reunion with her father, who was arrested when she was 3 years old, and for him to finally be able to hold his young granddaughter. "I'm so excited I don't know what to say," Ghoston said.

On Monday, 49-year-old former death row inmate Flowers appeared before Judge Joseph Loper for a bond hearing at the Montgomery County Courthouse, located less than a mile away from where four furniture store employees were shot in the head, execution-style, in the summer of 1996.

The quadruple homicide shocked Winona, a town of less than 6,000 people in central Mississippi, and has continued to make waves across the country as Flowers was tried six times for the murders — an unprecedented record in modern U.S. history, legal experts have said.

Two of Flowers' trials ended in hung juries. He was found guilty of the crimes in four trials, but the convictions were each later overturned by higher courts.

Earlier this year, the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Flowers' most recent conviction because justices found Fifth Circuit District Attorney Doug Evans racially discriminated during jury selection.

Everette Hudson, a Winona resident and friend of Flowers' family, attended the hearing to show support. She said the town's black and white residents, to this day, are "greatly divided" on the case, with a majority of white residents believing Flowers is guilty, a majority of black residents believing him innocent. That racial divide was evident in the jam-packed courtroom on Monday, with the spectators seated behind the defense and prosecution sides, although some people of both races sat in the middle of the courtroom.

Several spectators on the prosecution side of the courtroom declined to comment on Monday.

Evans was recently sued by a local chapter of the NAACP over racial discrimination in jury selection.

Judge admonishes DA for not showing

Judge Loper ended the hearing on Monday with words of reprimand for Evans, who the judge said was expected to be at the hearing but did not show. Loper said it was a "troubling fact" that the state of Mississippi had taken no action to further the case, ignoring a court order for the prosecutor to file written responses.

"I want to caution the prosecution that if it continues its dilatory conduct, and/or if it continues to ignore orders issued by this court, the State of Mississippi will reap the whirlwind," Loper said in a statement. He cautioned Evans' assistant, "since your boss chose to be somewhere other than here today, I expect you to convey that to him."

At the hearing, Flowers' attorney, Rob McDuff with the Mississippi Center for Justice, argued not only that Flowers deserves bond, but that the judge is legally required to grant it.

McDuff pointed to a state law that says anyone who's been tried twice for a capital offense, and each trial has resulted in a failure of the jury to agree on the defendant's guilt or innocence, shall be entitled to bail.

LOCAL JOURNALISM MATTERS Our journalists live, work and play in Mississippi. We are striving to make it a better place to live through the stories we tell. Please click here to support quality Mississippi journalism with a digital subscription.

He also says information uncovered by investigative reporters with APM Reports' podcast "In The Dark" — including statements by key witnesses admitting to lying and evidence pointing to alternate suspects — casts enough doubt on the case to require bail to be granted under the Mississippi Constitution.

At Monday's hearing, McDuff played part of an interview "In the Dark" did with Odell Hallmon, the state's star witness who had testified in prior trials that Flowers had confessed to the murders in prison. In the interview, Hallmon admits he was lying and says, "It was all make believe."

Afterwards, in a news conference, McDuff said the podcast had been "enormous" for Flowers and that it changed the dynamics of the case and raised its profile.

McDuff argued that Flowers, who had no prior criminal record and was described as a model inmate by prison staff, does not pose a danger to the community and he won't try to flee if bonded out.

"After nearly 23 years in prison, Curtis Flowers will be released on bail as we continue to pursue justice in this long and costly case," McDuff said after the hearing. "Given the evidence of his innocence that continues to surface as time goes by, as well as his excellent prison conduct and the fact that he has no criminal record, bail was required by the law ... At the beginning of the new year, we will move forward with our efforts to obtain a dismissal of the charges ... there is no need to continue wasting taxpayer money on the misguided prosecution ...."

Who is Doug Evans: More about the Mississippi district attorney who tried Curtis Flowers six times

Flowers could be tried for a seventh time for the quadruple homicide — it's up to Evans, the district attorney, to decide. Flower's attorney has filed a motion asking to judge to quash a potential seventh trial and to dismiss the charges against Flowers.

Assistant DA William Hopper's statement before the judge Monday was short — only eight minutes compared to more than 30 minutes for the defense.

Hopper argued that the state statute requiring bail after two mistrials does not apply to Flowers because he has also had two trials that resulted in convictions, which were later vacated.

"Cases are tried in a court of law, not the media," Hopper said.

Hopper said that besides Hallmon's testimony, there is other evidence linking Flowers to the murders, including gunshot residue found on his hand, a shoe box for the type of shoe that matched bloody footprints at the scene and a witness who places him near the furniture store on the day of the murders.

Loper, sounding skeptical, asked Hopper if it was the state's position that "no reasonable doubt" can be entertained.

Tardy Furniture murders: What happened?

On the morning of July 16, 1996, Tardy Furniture's owner and three employees were shot in the head, execution-style.

The victims were Bertha Tardy, 59, Carmen Rigby, 45, Roberty Golden, 42, and 16-year-old Derrick Stewart, who was known as "Bobo." All were dead at the scene, except for Derrick, who fought for his life for several days until he succumbed to his injuries.

The evidence investigators gathered at the scene included a bloody footprint and bullets. Nearly $400 was missing from the cash drawer.

Police arrested Flowers several months later. He was indicted on four counts of capital murder.

Flowers had worked at the store for a short time before being fired, and prosecutors have portrayed Flowers as a disgruntled employee who was out for revenge.

In his ruling Monday, Loper said: "In the next trial, should one occur, the state of Mississippi is faced with the prospect of having to present a far weaker case to the jury than it has had in the past, while having to meet a higher burden of proof that it had ever had to meet ... the state has failed to convince this court that the proof of Mr. Flowers guilt is evident, or the presumption so great as to deny bail."

Contact Alissa Zhu at azhu@gannett.com. Follow @AlissaZhu on Twitter.