[1] He was known for presiding over the 1993 Malice Green case, and for his father, George Crockett Jr., an influential civil rights activist, congressman and judge who preceded and served with him on the Recorder's Court.
[10] From 1970 to 1976 he worked at the Legal Aid and Defender Association of Detroit,[11] under renowned attorney Myzell Sowell, who during his twelve-year tenure built the Defender Association into an incubator of Detroit's legal talent; sixteen of the attorneys who worked under Sowell in this time went on to become judges.
[16] Crockett became known nationwide for presiding over the trial of police officers Walter Budzyn and Larry Nevers for the 1992 killing of Malice Green.
The trial attracted controversy and public scrutiny as an example of police brutality in the charged atmosphere following the 1991 Rodney King beating in Los Angeles.
[22] According to Edward Littlejohn, a Wayne State University Law School professor emeritus, “his handling of that case probably prevented upheavals in the community.