Prosecutors Ask Judge To Vacate Murder Conviction At Center Of ‘Serial’ Podcast

Topline

Baltimore City prosecutors asked a judge on Wednesday to vacate the conviction of Adnan Syed, who was convicted of murdering his ex-girlfriend when he was 17 and whose story was featured on the popular podcast “Serial,” according to multiple outlets, after investigators found new evidence pointing to two other suspects.

Officials escort Serial podcast subject Adnan Syed from the courthouse on Feb. 3, 2016.

TNS/Newscom

Key Facts

Baltimore State’s Attorney Marilyn Mosby’s office asked a judge for a new trial for Syed, saying the state “no longer has confidence in the integrity of the conviction,” the Wall Street Journal reported, citing a court filing.

Syed, who has continuously claimed he is innocent, has been serving a life sentence after being convicted in 2000 of strangling his ex-girlfriend Hae Min Lee in 1999, when he was tried as an adult for a crime allegedly committed at the age of 17.

The decision to request a new trial was sparked by new evidence that suggests two other suspects—whose names were withheld from the filing—could have been implicated in the crime, including one who threatened to “make” Lee disappear and to “kill her” in front of another person, while investigators also found out Lee’s car was discovered behind a house that one of the suspects’ relatives owned, according to the Journal.

Mosby’s office wrote in a tweet Wednesday “it became clear” additional forensic testing that was not available at the time of the original trial would be “an appropriate avenue to pursue,” after Syed’s attorneys asked the Sentencing Review Unit, which allows prisoners to request changes to their sentences after serving at least 20 years in prison, to re-examine his case in March.

The news comes eight years after the podcast “Serial” spotlighted Syed’s story and fueled questions about his involvement in the crime. Mosby’s office and representatives for Syed did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Forbes.

Crucial Quote

“There is an abundance of issues that gives the State overwhelming cause for concern,” Baltimore prosecutors wrote in court filings, according to the Journal. Prosecutors also pledged to “ensure that justice is done” for Lee.

What To Watch For

The news means Syed could get a new trial or potentially be freed after more than 20 years in prison. According to the Journal, prosecutors recommended Syed be released without bond conditions as long as he promises to make necessary court appearances, as continuing to detain him while an investigation is ongoing would be “unjust,” they said.

Key Background

The 42-year-old Syed stood trial twice for the murder of Lee and was convicted of first-degree murder, robbery, kidnapping and false imprisonment in 2000. Syed and Lee were seniors at Woodlawn High School in Baltimore County when Lee went missing in January 1999. Her body was found in a forest three weeks later, and an autopsy confirmed the 19-year-old died by strangulation. Prosecutors alleged Syed carried out the crime after becoming jealous of Lee, who was dating someone new after the two broke up. Authorities at the time claim Syed killed Lee after a struggle in her car. They relied on testimony from a classmate of Syed’s, Jay Wilds, who claimed he helped Syed dig a hole to bury Lee’s body, as well as cell phone tower data to place him at the scene of the crime. Syed has said he was at the library at the time of Lee’s murder, a claim former classmate Asia McClain has confirmed, though she was not called to testify during the first trial. Several investigations—including the producers of the “Serial” podcast as well as an HBO docuseries “The Case Against Adnan Syed’—have raised concerns about the evidence linking Syed to Lee’s death. In the HBO docuseries, an attorney for Syed said his DNA was not found on any of the 12 samples taken from Lee’s body and car, though the testing was not included in the original investigation.

Tangent

Syed has appealed his conviction on several occasions, and a special appeals court ruled in 2018 to give him a new trial, but that decision was reversed by Maryland’s highest court a year later. In court filings Wednesday, Maryland prosecutors said one of the two new suspects had attacked a woman in her car without “provocation,” while the other was later convicted of rape and sexual assault, both of which took place after Syed’s trial, according to the Journal.

Big Number

340 million. That’s how many times the first two seasons of “Serial”—the first of which focused on Syed’s case—had been downloaded as of 2018, according to Variety.