Update: Appeals Court Reinstates Adnan Syed's Murder Conviction

[JamesG]

Adnan Syed Conviction Overturned, "Serial" Subject Released from Prison; New Podcast Episode Coming Tomorrow
by Greg Evans
Sept. 19, 2022


Adnan Syed, whose prosecution in the 1999 killing of his high school girlfriend Hae Min Lee was examined in minute detail in the massively popular 2014 season of the hit podcast "Serial", will be released from prison after 23 years, with a Maryland judge today overturning his murder conviction.

The ruling came after a hearing today before Baltimore Circuit Judge Melissa Phinn. State prosecutors filed a motion last week asking the court to vacate Syed’s 2000 murder conviction, explaining that a year-long investigation conducted with Syed’s defense team uncovered new information “concerning the possible involvement of two alternative suspects,” and, additionally, that the legal parties “have identified significant reliability issues regarding the most critical pieces of evidence at trial.”

Syed, 41, has been behind bars for 23 years, maintaining his innocence throughout.





"Serial" tweeted that host Sarah Koenig was present at the hearing and will release a new episode of the podcast tomorrow.

According to the Baltimore Sun, Judge Phinn today rejected a request from Young Lee, a California resident and brother of Hae Min Lee, to postpone the hearing for a week so that he could attend. The judge denied the motion, saying that Young Lee could attend the hearing virtually.

The strangulation murder of 18-year-old Hae Min Lee became a national obsession 15 years after it occurred when Sarah Koenig’s Peabody Award-winning podcast raised serious doubts about the case and the conviction. The investigative report had listeners divided over whether Syed was guilty, whether he had an accomplice, or whether he was entirely innocent.

A 2019 HBO docuseries, "The Case Against Adnan Syed", also raised doubts.





In its motion last week, the prosecutor emphasized that the murder investigation will be ongoing, and that investigators will use “all available resources to investigate this case and bring a suspect or suspects to justice.”

“To be clear, the State is not asserting at this time that Defendant is innocent,” the motion continued, but added that the prosecution “no longer has confidence in the integrity of the conviction.”

A new trial, or a decision to abandon the case against Syed, would depend on the outcome of the ongoing investigation. In the meantime, the motion sought the release of Syed on his own recognizance.

https://deadline.com/2022/09/adnan-s...ed-1235122432/

[Wawwie]

He might actually be innocent, but he might really be guilty. It's just reasonable doubt, not concrete evidence of his innocence. He definitely deserves a new trial, not immediate release.
BTW, the prosecutor has problems of her own. She was supposed to go on trial herself for fraud or something like that. The whole thing is very suspicious/bizarre.

[Wawwie]

Seeing as how this guy gets RELEASED on only reasonable doubt, Scott Peterson should be granted at the least a new trial. Adnan Syed should have got a new trial. Let a jury decide if he should be released or not.

[JamesG]

New Adnan Syed Prosecution is “Remote at Best”, Says "Serial" Producer Sarah Koenig in New Episode
by Greg Evans
Sept. 20, 2022


In a new 17-minute episode of "Serial" updating the latest developments in the murder case that rocketed the podcast to international success, host and exec producer Sarah Koenig says she believes “the chances of the state ever trying to prosecutor Adnan [Syed] again are remote at best.”

“Adnan’s case was a mess,” Koenig says after summarizing the reasons why a Maryland judge vacated Syed’s conviction in the 1999 murder of 18-year-old Hae Min Lee. “Is a mess. That’s pretty much where we were when we stopped reporting in 2014.”




In the new episode Koenig describes the atmosphere in the courtroom yesterday as Baltimore Circuit Judge Melissa Phinn vacated the first-degree murder conviction and ordered Syed’s release from prison after 23 years behind bars.

“Shockingly quiet,” is how Koenig describes it. Prosecutors, she said, “stopped short of exonerating” Syed, but conceded that his conviction in 2000 “wasn’t an honest conviction.”




The origins of the reconsidered case came just short of a year ago with the Oct. 2, 2021, passage of a new Maryland law called the Juvenile Restoration Act that allows prisoners convicted as juveniles who have served at least 20 years behind bars to seek new sentences. Lawyers for Syed, who was 17 at the time of Hae Min Lee’s murder in 1999, petitioned the court under the new law.

A new prosecutor assigned to review the case made some disturbing discoveries, including notes handwritten by a detective during the initial investigation that linked two additional suspects to the murder – information that was not shared with Syed’s lawyers at the time.




The new investigation also found problems with the much-discussed cell phone location records – a significant aspect of both the trial case and the original "Serial" podcast – as well as inconsistencies in the supposed eyewitness testimony of Jay Wilds, an acquaintance of both Syed and Hae Min Lee. Wilds was a controversial presence in the 2014 Serial podcast, dividing listeners as to his credibility.

“Jay’s story has gotten even more confusing in the years since the trial,” Koenig says in the today’s new episode. Koenig says that as prosecutors re-investigated the charges against Syed, “the case just kind of crumbled.”

Koenig adds sardonically, “I know. If you’ve heard Season One of Serial, you know how I got there.”




The podcaster notes that Baltimore prosecutors have stated that they will continue to investigate the murder case with the newly uncovered leads, but Koenig adds that she believes “the chances of the state ever trying to prosecute Adnan again are remote at best.”

https://deadline.com/2022/09/adnan-s...ig-1235122805/

[JamesG]

Baltimore Prosecutors Drop Charges against Adnan Syed
by Greg Evans
Oct. 11, 2022


Baltimore prosecutors have dropped all charges against Adnan Syed, the man whose conviction on murder charges was chronicled in the hit podcast Serial.

Syed was released from prison last month when a Baltimore judge vacated his conviction on the recommendation of prosecutors. Ayed served 23 years in prison for the murder of his high-school girlfriend Hae Min Lee.

Today, Emily Witty, a spokeswoman for the Baltimore state’s attorney’s office, confirmed that the case had been dropped.

https://deadline.com/2022/10/serial-...ed-1235141060/

[Wawwie]

Vinnie Politan is covering this case right now on his Closing Arguments show on Court TV. He's talking about how Adnan's DNA was not on the shoes. Think-tanker, Rick King says he is still not convinced.

[JamesG]

Adnan Syed Attorney Stands by Exoneration, Calls for DNA Examination to Find “Actual Killer” – Update
by Greg Evans
March 28, 2023


The ever-surprising case of Adnan Syed, whose murder conviction was examined in a massively popular season of the podcast Serial, took another stunning turn earlier today when the 2022 vacation of his conviction was overturned on appeal.

The Maryland appellate court panel reinstated Syed’s conviction in the 1999 murder of his high school girlfriend Hae Min Lee. Syed, 17 at the time of the murder, was convicted of the crime in 2000, but in a surprising twist last year Baltimore Circuit Court Judge Melissa Phinn vacated the conviction due to problems in how prosecutors had turned over evidence to defense attorneys before the original trial.





Today, in a 2-1 decision, the Maryland appellate court reinstated the convictions and prison sentence – at least for now – by ruling that the process by which the conviction was vacated violated the rights of Hae Min Lee’s brother Young Lee, who has argued that he was given less than one day’s notice prior to Syed’s release from prison.

Prosecutors at the time stated that they would no longer pursue the case against Syed.





Young Lee had argued that the Baltimore city state’s attorney gave him less than one business day’s notice of the hearing at which Syed’s conviction was vacated, and that the short notice didn’t allow him time to prepare a response or to attend a hearing in the case.

Any further action in the case, apparently including Syed’s return to prison, will be on hold for 60 days to allow both sides time to plan their responses.





UPDATE, with attorney statement:

Adnan Syed’s attorney Rabia Chaudry is standing by “the integrity of the evidence” that resulted in his release from prison last year, and is calling on law enforcement to use DNA technology and “find Hae Min Lee’s actual killer.”

In an Instagram post following news of an Maryland appellate court panel’s decision to reinstate Syed’s murder conviction, Chaudry says, “we stand by the integrity of the evidence that exonerated Adnan and urge the Baltimore Police and States Attorney’s office to find the source of the DNA on the victims shoes and find Hae Min Lee’s actual killer.”

She later posted, “‘Give up’ is not in my lexicon.” Chaudry will further discuss today’s court decision on Instagram live tomorrow at 10 a.m. ET.

https://deadline.com/2023/03/adnan-s...st-1235311909/