A Baltimore choose final month overturned Syed's homicide conviction within the 1999 killing of Hae Min Lee, chronicled within the hit podcast, and ordered him launched from jail, the place the 41-year-old had spent greater than twenty years.
Prosecutors dropped expenses towards Adnan Syed on Tuesday within the 1999 killing of Hae Min Lee, a case that was chronicled within the first season of the hit podcast Serial, in response to a lawyer affiliated with Syed’s case.
Laura Nirider, a co-director of the Middle on Wrongful Convictions at Northwestern Pritzker Faculty of Legislation who accompanied Syed when he walked out of jail final month, tweeted: “Breaking information: After the most recent spherical of DNA testing generated outcomes that, like earlier rounds of testing, excluded Adnan Syed, he has now been formally exonerated!”
Erica Suter, a lawyer who has represented Syed in courtroom throughout his push to be freed, confirmed the information to The Baltimore Solar.
The prosecutor’s workplace didn’t instantly reply to calls and emails looking for remark.
A Baltimore choose final month overturned Syed’s homicide conviction and ordered him launched from jail, the place the 41-year-old had spent greater than twenty years. Circuit Decide Melissa Phinn additionally gave prosecutors 30 days by which to resolve whether or not to retry Syed or drop the costs.
Phinn dominated that the state had violated its authorized obligation to share proof that might have bolstered Syed’s protection. After his launch, Syed was positioned on residence detention with GPS location monitoring.
Syed has maintained his innocence for many years and captured the eye of thousands and thousands in 2014 when the debut season of Serial centered on the case and raised doubts about among the proof, together with cellphone tower knowledge.
Prosecutors have beforehand mentioned that a reinvestigation of the case revealed proof relating to the doable involvement of two alternate suspects. The 2 suspects could have been concerned individually or collectively, the state’s lawyer’s workplace mentioned.
One of many suspects had threatened Lee, saying “he would make her (Ms. Lee) disappear. He would kill her,” in response to a courtroom submitting.
The suspects have been identified individuals on the time of the unique investigation and weren't correctly dominated out nor disclosed to the protection, prosecutors mentioned.
Prosecutors additionally mentioned new info revealed that one of many suspects was convicted of attacking a girl in her automobile, and that one of many suspects was convicted of participating in serial rape and sexual assault.
Prosecutors additionally famous unreliable cellphone knowledge used throughout Syed’s courtroom case to corroborate his whereabouts on the day of the crime. The discover on the information particularly suggested that the billing places for incoming calls “wouldn't be thought of dependable info for location.”
Syed served greater than 20 years in jail for the strangling of Lee, who was 18 on the time. Her physique was discovered weeks later buried in a Baltimore park.
Greater than a decade later, the favored Serial podcast revealed little-known proof and attracted thousands and thousands of listeners, shattering podcast-streaming and downloading information.