Adnan Syed walked from court a free man on Monday after two handwritten notes with the name of another possible suspect were discovered earlier this year, it was revealed. Serial, the podcast that propelled the case to global attention and first cast doubt on Mr. Syed’s conviction, released a new episode Tuesday revealing what ultimately led Baltimore prosecutors to reconsider the 41-year-old’s conviction for the 1999 murder of Hae’s ex-girlfriend. Min Lee. In the episode, reporter Sarah Koenig said “messy” memos that sat in trial boxes for more than two decades revealed that two different people had made two separate phone calls alerting prosecutors to the unnamed suspect before Syed’s 2000 conviction. The notes were not shared with Mr Syed’s legal team – which the judge agreed was a Brady violation. On Monday, Judge Melissa Phinn overturned Mr Syed’s conviction and ordered he be freed – after 23 years behind bars. Prosecutors now have 30 days to decide whether to drop the charges entirely or retry the case.
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Voices: Adnan Syed’s conviction should have been thrown out a long time ago
Twenty-two years ago, Adnan Syed was convicted of murdering his ex-girlfriend Hae Min Lee. Lee, a student in Baltimore County, Maryland, was 18 when she went missing in January 1999. She was found dead by manual strangulation in February of that year. Syed, who was 17 at the time of Lee’s death, was charged with her murder later that month. he was convicted a year later and sentenced to life in prison. Syed’s case came to the fore again in 2014, with the release of Serial, the podcast that changed the face of true crime programming and cast doubt on the stability of Syed’s conviction. Over the course of 12 episodes, journalist Sarah Koenig, the show’s host, pointed out weaknesses in the evidence used against Said, as well as remaining idiosyncrasies and murky areas. If there’s a central theme in Serial’s first season (the show had two others, devoted to other themes), it’s doubt—a crucial factor, given that the US justice system dictates that someone should only be convicted of a criminal offense if criticism committee believes they are guilty “beyond a reasonable doubt”. The Independent’s Clémence Michallon discusses the case:
Tossing out Adnan Syed’s conviction is the right decision — but it’s not justice
That was the only possible conclusion in 2014, and it remains the only possible conclusion now, eight years later Rachel Sharp21 September 2022 00:30 1663719335
Timeline of Hae Min Lee’s murder and Adnan Syed’s court battle
More than two decades after being arrested for murdering his ex-girlfriend, Adnan Syed is finally set to be released from prison. On Monday, Baltimore City Circuit Judge Melissa Phinn threw out the 41-year-old’s conviction and granted him a new trial, ordering his release after spending the past 23 years behind bars. Syed, who was 17 when he was charged with Hae Min Lee’s murder, will be released today. Said’s sudden release marks just the latest twist in a legal battle that has dragged on for more than two decades – and during which he has always maintained his innocence. Read the timeline of the case so far:
Timeline of Hae Min Lee’s murder and Adnan Syed’s court battle
Adnan Syed case: Timeline of Hae Min Lee’s murder and court battle over Serial podcast Rachel Sharp21 September 2022 01:15 1663722035
How a podcast changed the face of true crime
Eight years ago, a new sound hit the airwaves. It was minimal, just a few notes on a piano, with an audio recording of a phone call coming from prison. Then two voices: that of Adnan Syed, a man who had spent 14 years behind bars, and that of Sarah Koenig, a journalist who had spent a year trying to figure out if she belonged there. The show’s first season aired in just two months, but it marked the beginning of a saga that’s still ongoing — and recently came to a head when a Baltimore judge granted prosecutors’ request to overturn Seid’s conviction and give him a new trial. That in itself is a major development, and Serial’s impact was felt beyond Syed’s case. The Independent’s Clémence Michallon has the full story:
How Serial Revolutionized True Crime and Cast Doubt on Adnan Syed’s Murder Conviction
Clémence Michallon recalls genre-changing podcast as Syed faces retrial after 23 years behind bars Rachel Sharp21 September 2022 02:00 1663725635
The show’s host says Syed’s case involves “almost every chronic problem” in the justice system
The serial podcast host said Adnan Syed’s case involves “almost every chronic problem” in the criminal justice system. Journalist Sarah Koenig released a new episode in the series on Tuesday – a day after Syed walked out of court a free man after his murder conviction was overturned. In it, Ms. Koenig pointed out that almost all of the evidence challenging his conviction was available when Hae Min Lee was murdered in 1999. “Yesterday, there was a lot of talk about justice, but most of what the state submitted in this motion to vacate, all of the facts, were either known or known to the police and prosecutors in 1999,” he said at the end of the episode. . “So even on a day when the government publicly acknowledges its own mistakes, it’s hard to feel cheers for a triumph of justice. Because we have created a system that takes more than 20 years to fix itself. And this is just this case.” Rachel Sharp21 September 2022 03:00 1663729235
Watch the moment Adnan Syed walks out of court a free man
Adnan Syed left court in Baltimore to cheers after a judge overturned his 2000 murder conviction on Monday. Watch the moment he walked free from the courthouse below: Adnan Syed leaves court after judge asks to overturn 2000 murder conviction Rachel Sharp21 September 2022 04:00 1663732800
Adnan Syed was losing “hope” for freedom before he was released
Adnan Syed was “trying to diminish hope” that he would ever regain his freedom before his release on Monday, it was revealed. In a new episode of the Serial podcast, Sarah Koenig revealed that the 41-year-old had recently lost faith that his conviction would be overturned. Syed was 17 when he was arrested and charged with strangling Hae Min Lee to death in 1999. He had spent the last 23 years behind bars. On Monday, a judge overturned his conviction and ordered his release. Rachel Sharp21 September 2022 05:00 1663736400
Hae Min Lee’s brother says the case is ‘killing me’
Hae Min Lee’s brother spoke in court during Monday’s hearing to talk about the toll the case is taking on him and his family, saying it’s “killing me.” The young Lee attended the court hearing virtually from the West Coast where he urged the judge to “make the right decision”. “I’ve lived with it for 20-plus years. Every day when I think it’s over… or it’s over, it always comes back,” she said. “It’s killing me. It’s really hard.” He added that he felt “betrayed” by the prosecution, claiming they blindsided the family by casting doubt on Adnan Said’s guilt – after spending more than two decades insisting he was the killer. Mr Lee choked back tears as he said he was open to a new investigation and spoke of the difficulty of learning that someone responsible for his sister’s death could currently be at large. Rachel Sharp21 September 2022 06:00 1663740000
What we know about two alternative suspects in the 1999 murder
Adnan Syed walked free from court on Monday after a nearly year-long investigation revealed new evidence implicating two alternative suspects in the 1999 killing of student Hae Min Lee. On Monday, Baltimore City Judge Melissa Phinn vacated the 41-year-old’s conviction “in the interest of justice,” granted him a new trial and ordered him released under house arrest while the investigation into Lee’s killing continues. His release came days after Maryland prosecutors filed a bombshell request to overturn his conviction. On Wednesday — after more than two decades behind bars, where Syed has continued to maintain his innocence of any involvement — Baltimore State’s Attorney Marilyn Mosby filed a motion to toss out his conviction. He said “the state no longer has confidence in the integrity of the conviction” based on doubts about the validity of cellphone records as well as new information about two unnamed suspects. Wednesday’s court filing did not name the two alternate suspects in the case, citing the ongoing investigation. But prosecutors said the two alternate suspects were both known to the original investigation into the 1999 killing and were not properly excluded or disclosed to the defense. The Independent’s Rachel Sharp has the full story:
Adnan Syed Free: What We Know About Two Alternative Suspects In ‘Serial’ Murder
The serial podcast named Ronald Lee Moore, a career criminal and accused murderer from Baltimore, as a suspect in Hae Min Lee’s murder Rachel Sharp21 September 2022 07:00 1663743600
New DNA test underway
The state is awaiting the results of DNA tests they hope could advance the investigation, Baltimore State’s Attorney Marilyn Mosby said Monday. In March, prosecutors and Adnan Syed’s defense attorneys filed a joint request to test Hae Min Lee’s clothes using a new touch DNA test, which was not available at the time of the original trial. The analysis came back in August with nothing conclusive. However, Ms Mosby said on Monday that further tests were underway. She added that if the tests come back with Syed’s DNA, then her office will continue…
