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Unlike many mystery-of-the-week hosts, Erin Moriarty, a lawyer turned true crime luminary on the CBS series 48 Hours, has followed cases for years, sometimes decades. While viewers like a well-constructed mystery with a beginning, middle and end, shes learned that not all cases are that tidy.

You may not get a resolution the first time you go out and shoot something, Moriarty told HuffPost, and she appreciates that 48 Hours has given her the opportunity to continue to follow up on those cases.

In her 24 years with the show, shes developed strong bonds with people falsely convicted of crimes and exposed official misconduct that resulted in shaky convictions. Shes now returned to a case that shes been covering since 1999, and she says it is the one thats troubled her the most. Murder in the Orange Grove , her podcast, which debuted on Sept. 18 and is releasing episodes weekly, takes a new look at the conviction of Crosley Green. Its all in keeping with the good she believes true crime coverage can do: serve as a watchdog for police investigations, support victims of violence or injustice and help regular people understand the reality of the U.S.s powerful criminal justice system.

There are negatives, no question, she said, nodding to criticisms that the genre can exploit tragedy for entertainment. But if its done properly, I think theres a real benefit to true crime reporting.

Green was sentenced to death even though there was no evidence to connect him to the 1989 robbery and fatal shooting of a 22-year-old Florida man, Moriarty said. The story took a wild twist when Moriarty initially tracked down first responders, who offered a different take on the crime scene than what prosecutors presented at trial. Greens conviction was overturned, but the case didnt end there. He was ordered back to prison this month after the conviction was reinstated on appeal. His only options for freedom that Moriarty believes is deserved are parole or clemency.

Though theres no resolution, Moriarty said shes proud of what her reporting has accomplished.

If we had not started on Crosley Greens case 25 years ago, number one, he might have been executed, Moriarty said. A law firm picked up the [case] after the American Bar Association saw our first story. So Im proud of that. What Im not proud of is that hes still in prison, but I am proud that we made a difference.

By sticking with a story, she said, her reporting has often taken her in surprising directions.