‘Serial’ podcast subject Adnan Syed’s murder conviction overturned by judge
The Maryland man whose 2000 murder trial was the subject of the popular podcast “Serial” had his murder conviction overturned by a Baltimore judge Monday.
Circuit Court Judge Melissa Phinn ordered Adnan Syed free after 23 years behind bars for the 1999 murder of high school student Hae Min Lee. Syed was serving a life sentence plus 30 years after he was convicted of strangling his ex-girlfriend, 18-year-old Lee, whose body was found buried in a Baltimore park. He has maintained his innocence all along.
His legal saga became the focus of the 2014 debut season of the “Serial” podcast, becoming a viral sensation.
The crowded Baltimore courtroom broke out in loud applause Monday as the judge announced her decision.
“All right, Mr. Syed, you’re free to join your family,” Phinn told the now-41-year-old.
Officials escort Adnan Syed from the Baltimore Circuit Court courthouse in 2016. (Karl Merton Ferron/)
Evidence involving two other suspects has caused prosecutors to reconsider Syed’s conviction. Baltimore State’s Attorney Marilyn Mosby said last week that an investigation lasting nearly a year “revealed undisclosed and newly-developed information” regarding those suspects and allegedly called into question “unreliable” cell phone tower data used in Syed’s criminal trial.
Prosecutors state the two unidentified suspects — known persons in the original investigation who were not “properly” ruled out or disclosed to Syed’s defense team — “may be involved individually or may be involved together.”
One of those suspects was reportedly convicted of attacking a woman in her vehicle, and one of the suspects was convicted of rape, prosecutors claim. Lee’s car was discovered behind the family home of one of those suspects. Her body was found partially buried in a Baltimore park.
Mosby’s office stated it is not contending the suspect is innocent and recommends a new trial.
The court had a 30-minute recess Monday so that the victim’s brother could join the proceedings from his home on the West Coast. Young Lee addressed the court and said he felt “betrayed” by prosecutors, whose office for the past two decades had told him his sister’s killer was behind bars.
“This is not a podcast for me. This is real life,” he said.
Upset his sister’s killer or killers may have been roaming about freely for 23 years, an emotional Lee reportedly said he would not fight efforts to reopen Syed’s case.
Court officers were told to unshackle Syed in the courtroom Monday. Prosecutors have 30 days to determine whether they want to retry Syed or drop the charges. He will be monitored via GPS until a decision is made.
Syed had been detained at Maryland’s maximum security Patuxent Institution, southwest of Baltimore.
With News Wire Services
