The Maryland man convicted of killing his ex-girlfriend walked away from a Baltimore court Monday because of a rare confluence of people and politics: astute friends devoted to his case, a prosecutor with a history of defending, a new sentencing law minors , and the millions of podcast listeners who pointed out the inconsistencies in the trial that landed Syed in prison. Experts and attorneys involved in the case say Syed’s story reveals the challenges of trying to address potential injustice in the criminal justice system, how easy it is for people to unfairly spend their lives behind bars, and how public scrutiny can change the course of a case. “The thing about these convictions that are so old is that they die in the dark,” said Erika Suter, Seid’s attorney. “They need light. They need oxygen.” Adnan Syed, who appeared on the “Serial” podcast, has been released from prison Said, 42, has maintained his innocence since he was arrested in 1999 for the murder of his ex-girlfriend. Hae Min Lee, when he was only 17 years old. He was accused of strangling Lee, then 18, and burying her in a nearby park. He was convicted in 2000 and sentenced to life in prison. On Monday, a judge overturned that conviction — ruling that deficiencies in the way prosecutors had turned over evidence to defense attorneys could have affected the outcome of his case. The Baltimore State’s Attorney’s office has 30 days to decide whether to retry Syed or drop the case altogether. Meanwhile, Syed is home on electronic surveillance. Videos Monday night showed him smiling, eating leftovers from a refrigerator. Syed’s release was not welcomed by all. Lee’s brother, The younger Lee told the court he felt “betrayed” by the state attorney’s motion, accepted by the judge, to overturn Said’s conviction. He said he was open to further investigation but that it was “really hard” for his family to know “there could be someone out there free to kill my sister”. The 23 years between the verdict that imprisoned him and the one that set him free were filled with setbacks and moments of despair for Syed and his defense team. When Syed’s lawyer first filed for post-conviction relief a decade after the original ruling, his attorney at the time, Justin Brown, said he was fighting to reach a woman, Asia McClain, who he believed was an alibi witness who would could help free him. customer. Brown said Rabia Chaudry, a close family friend of Syed’s and a law student at the time, had previously visited McClain and asked her to sign an affidavit saying she had seen Syed in the library at the time of Lee’s murder. McClain could not be reached for comment but said on Twitter that he was “taking this time to think and compose my thoughts in a way that is consistent with all the many feelings I have surrounding this case.” Chaudry did not respond to requests for comment. A judge was ultimately unmoved by the affidavit, Brown said. Brown said he remembers walking out of an empty courtroom with Said’s mother. “She’s this very upbeat, upbeat, never-give-up, amazing woman, and I didn’t know what to say to her,” he said. “I didn’t think we had a realistic chance of winning at that point.” Then Chaundry met Sarah Koenig, an investigative journalist who took an interest in the case. Koenig told Syed’s story in a 12-part series that revealed new details about his case and, in the process, captured the public’s attention. “Serial,” which premiered in 2014, quickly broke records with hundreds of millions of downloads and ushered in a new era of true crime podcasts. Suddenly, Said’s story was everywhere. In group text chats around the world. On blogs where web techies discussed theories. In restaurants and pubs and courtrooms across Maryland, where Brown said he was suddenly recognized for his relationship with the man charged with Lee’s murder. “It opened my eyes to a lot about how the system works,” said Ross Montgomery, a Kansas resident who started listening to “Serial” when it debuted and has continued to follow the case closely. The series also breathed new life into Syed’s legal case. Brown, who said he and Chaudry made the decision to turn over his legal files to Koenig, listened to the podcast, heard McClain speak, and then realized she might be willing to help. He held out his hand to her. One day, unlike all those years ago, he answered his call. “I always get asked the question, ‘Did ‘Serial’ help the case?” he said. “She absolutely helped. She brought us Asia McClain, who kept this thing alive.” Brown asked the court to reopen the post-conviction hearing, citing new information from McClain. A judge agreed, and in 2016, Brown returned to court for a hearing. This time, the room was full. However, Said remained incarcerated for years as his case trickled through the Maryland court system. A judge once granted a new trial, but the state supreme court eventually reversed that decision. In 2019 — despite “Serial,” a follow-up four-part HBO documentary and two separate books about the case — it looked like Syed might, in fact, spend the rest of his years behind bars. Syed had decided to reject a plea offer that would have freed him from prison in just four years — if he pleaded guilty, Brown said. In 2019, the US Supreme Court decided not to hear Syed’s case, seemingly ending his ten-year battle for a new trial. “Personally, I was haunted by the decision not to take the plea,” Brown said. “Despite trying to put on a brave face in public, I thought it was probably the end of the road.” But changes to the criminal justice system in Maryland gave Said another chance. First, the state legislature passed a bill allowing judges to accept requests to vacate convictions “in the interest of justice and impartiality.” Subsequently, Baltimore State’s Attorney Marilyn Mosby created a Conviction Review Unit. Mosby tapped Becky Feldman, a former public defender, as his chief. In October 2021, the Juvenile Rehabilitation Act took hold in the state — allowing prosecutors to seek reduced sentences for those who served at least 20 years in prison for crimes committed under the age of 18. That month, Said’s lawyers turned over his case to Mosby’s office. The ensuing investigation revealed new evidence that showed prosecutors knew of two other potential suspects, including one who had a motive to kill Lee, and had not turned over information to defense attorneys. Maryland Attorney General Brian E. Frosh (D) — whose office has previously defended Syed’s handling of the case in court proceedings — disputed that, calling the allegations that prosecutors failed to turn over evidence in Syed’s defense as they should have been “wrong”. According to court records, one of the suspects had threatened to make Lee “disappear” and “kill her.” The affidavit also claimed that one was “involved in multiple incidents of rape and sexual assault” and one had relatives living near the area where Lee’s car was found. It does not distinguish between suspects. That discovery, along with others suggesting unreliable evidence and witness testimony, informed Mosby’s decision to file a motion to vacate Said’s conviction. In court days later – or 23 years later – a judge ordered Said’s shackles removed.
