Baltimore prosecutors have dropped the charges against “Serial” podcast subject Adnan Syed, who had been convicted of killing a former girlfriend more than two decades ago, but saw his sentence vacated last month.
Judge Melissa Phinn granted Balitmore State’s Attorney Marilyn Mosby’s request to vacate Syed’s sentence on September 19 based on new evidence, the existence of other potential suspects, and gave prosecutors 30 days to decide whether to re-try Syed in the 1999 murder of Hae Min Lee. Mosby announced her decision in an afternoon news briefing.
“We used advanced DNA to determine it was not Adnan Syed,” Mosby told reporters, adding that genetic testing at the time of the slaying was not what it is now.
‘SERIAL’ PODCAST SUBJECT ADNAN SYED SENTENCE VACATED BY MARYLAND JUDGE AFTER PROSECUTORS’ REQUEST
Adnan Syed was convicted and sentenced to life in prison in 2000 for the 1999 murder of Hae Min Lee.
(AP Photo/Courtesy of Yusuf Syed)
Balitmore police found Lee, 18, buried in a shallow grave at Leakin Park. An autopsy found her death to be a homicide by manual strangulation.
Syed, now 41, walked free after 22 years in prison for a crime he said he did not commit after prosecutors told the court, “The state no longer has confidence in the integrity of the conviction.”
Prosecutors highlighted several pieces of evidence, including the possibility of additional suspects: one who had allegedly threatened to kill Lee, and one who is linked to an address where Lee’s car was ultimately discovered.
They also said the other possible suspects each were convicted of crimes after Lee’s murder.
Adnan Syed was released from a Maryland prison on Sept. 19, 2022, after spending 23 years behind bars.
(Lloyd Fox/The Baltimore Sun/Tribune News Service)
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On Tuesday, Mosby said that touch DNA collected from Lee’s shoes played a role in her decision to rule Syed out as a suspect more than two decades after the murder.
“It’s still an open case, but in regard to Adnan Syed, the case is finished,” she said. “The case is still an open and pending investigation.”
Since his arrest and following his conviction, Syed has maintained his innocence.
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Adnan Syed’s mother, Shamim Syed, listens to Maryland State’s Attorney for Baltimore Marilyn Mosby speak to the press after a judge overturned Syed’s murder conviction and set him free pending a new trial during a hearing at the Baltimore City Circuit Courthouse in Baltimore Sept. 19, 2022.
(REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst)
“Finally, Adnan Syed is able to live as a free man,” Syed’s attorney Erica Suter said in a statement to the Associated Press. “The DNA results confirmed what we have already known and what underlies all of the current proceedings: that Adnan is innocent and lost 23 years of his life serving time for a crime he did not commit.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
