Syed had long maintained his innocence in the 1999 murder of his ex-girlfriend Hae Min Lee, and the famous 2014 podcast bolstered his case.
Baltimore – On Monday, a court overturned Adnan Syed’s murder conviction, years after the acclaimed podcast “Serial” detailed his case and cast doubt on his role in the 1999 assassination of former girlfriend Hae Min Lee. According to City Circuit Court Judge Melissa Phinn, prosecutors made a convincing argument that Syed’s conviction was erroneous and that he should be released immediately.
According to Phinn, prosecutors did not properly turn over evidence to defense attorneys that could have helped them prove someone else killed Lee. Furthermore, evidence discovered after the trial would have increased the “strong and considerable possibility that the outcome would have been different.”
Phinn overturned convictions for murder, kidnapping, robbery, and false imprisonment. The judge ordered Syed to be released without bond and placed on home detention with GPS tracking. Prosecutor Becky Feldman said moments before the ruling that “justice and fairness” demanded that Syed’s convictions be overturned. “The state has lost faith in the integrity of this conviction and believes that vacating his convictions is in the interests of justice and fairness.” “Feldman explained. “We promise to do all in our power to deliver justice to the Lee family.” That includes using all available tools to bring a suspect or suspects to justice and hold them accountable. “
Syed, who has a full beard, wore a long-sleeved white dress shirt, a dark tie, and a traditional Muslim skullcap to court. Syed’s supporters inside the courtroom erupted in delight as Phinn ordered guards to “drop his handcuffs.” Phinn granted the state 30 days to decide whether to seek a fresh trial or to put the case on hold. Outside court, Baltimore City State’s Attorney Marilyn Mosby was applauding the judge’s decision when Syed entered, was greeted with shouts, and led into an awaiting car before being driven away.
“We haven’t declared Adnan Syed’s innocence yet,” Mosby told reporters. “In the interest of fairness and justice, we declare that he is entitled to a fresh trial.” Mosby’s charges were deemed “incorrect” by Maryland Attorney General Brian E. Frosh.
“Neither State’s Attorney Mosby nor anyone in her office bothered to communicate with either the Assistant State’s Attorney who prosecuted the case or anybody in my office about these alleged infractions,” Frosh said in a statement. “The defense was given access to the file in this case on multiple occasions.” Maryland prosecutors sought this week for Syed’s conviction to be overturned, shocking the victim’s family. Young Lee, Lee’s brother, sobbed throughout his virtual court appearance Monday, unsure how this turn of events occurred.
“I’ve been living with this for, like, 20 years, and every day when I think it’s over, whenever I think it’s over, whenever I think it’s over, it constantly comes back,” he told the court via Zoom. “It isn’t just me. It is killing both myself and my mum.” Lee’s family’s lawyer, Steve Kelly, requested Phinn to postpone Monday’s proceedings by seven days so Lee’s brother could attend and speak in court.
Kelly claimed that the family was not given enough time and did not have access to a counsel to decide whether or not to attend in court. “It is ridiculous to argue that the State’s Attorney’s Office provided proper notice under these circumstances,” Kelly told the court. “My client is not a lawyer, and he was not advised by an attorney about his rights and how to exercise them.”
However, Phinn stated that the family, who is represented in California by Lee’s brother, could readily jump on Zoom to address the court. She requested a 30-minute delay to allow the brother to get to a computer and dial in to the hearing. “I was kind of taken aback,” Lee admitted in court. “I always thought the state was on my side, but then I heard there was a request to vacate judgment, and I honestly felt deceived.” Hae Min Lee was 18 years old when she was assassinated in 1999. Her body was discovered in Leakin Park in Baltimore.
Syed, now 42, was sentenced to life in prison in 2000, and his case received global attention thanks to the 2014 podcast “Serial.” The true-crime series was created by Sarah Koenig, a former Baltimore Sun reporter who spent more than a year investigating Syed’s case and reporting her discoveries in hourlong installments in near real-time. The 12-episode podcast received a Peabody Award and was instrumental in popularizing podcasts for a broad audience.
Koenig was at the courthouse Monday, according to the podcast’s official Twitter account, and a new edition of the series will be released Tuesday. Prosecutors had relied on cellphone records that appeared to prove Syed was near the park where Lee’s corpse was discovered. They are now questioning the “untrustworthy cellular tower data” used against Syed during his trial and want to look into “two potential candidates.”
According to prosecutors’ filing last week, “these suspects were known persons at the time of the investigation of the case and were not effectively ruled out.” Syed’s legal team has maintained that the cellphone data used against him was untrustworthy because carrier AT&T stated that it only detected where outgoing calls originated, not incoming calls. Because the cellular evidence utilized against Syed was based on his phone’s incoming calls, his general position around the time Lee went missing could not be established. Syed’s defense team has long questioned a major testimony by the couple’s schoolmate, Jay Wild, who testified that he was with Syed when he buried her body in the park.