A judge in Baltimore overturned Adnan Syed’s murder verdict on Monday afternoon, after he had spent 23 years behind bars. The popular “Serial” podcast in 2014 documented the case against him and opened up criticisms of its validity.
Mr. Syed went through a lengthy legal battle for his freedom while claiming his innocence. Last week, prosecutors asked a judge to overturn his sentence, saying that “the state no longer has confidence in the integrity of the verdict” following a new investigation. The move is the latest in a series of legal actions since the podcast questioned his charges.
Here is a brief timeline of his case.
1999
Hae Min Lee was killed.
Hae Min Lee, 18, was killed by strangulation when she was a student at Woodlawn High School in Baltimore County, Md.
She disappeared after leaving school, and her body was found almost a month later buried in a park. A police investigation led to Mr. Syed, a student who used to date Ms. Lee. He was arrested and pleaded not guilty.
2000
Adnan Syed was found guilty.
Prosecutors relied mainly on the testimony of Jay Wilds, a friend of Syed’s, who testified that he helped Syed bury her body. They presented records of a cell phone tower that they said had placed Mr. Syed near the park where Ms. Lee’s body was found.
The jury found Syed, 17 at the time of Ms. Lee’s death, guilty of murder, robbery, kidnapping and false imprisonment. He was sentenced to life in prison.
Over the course of 12 weekly episodes, the podcast revealed the existence of an alibi for Mr. Syed, who said she was with him at a library when Ms. Lee was killed. The witness, Asia McClain, said she was willing to testify, but Mr. Syed’s attorney, Maria Cristina Gutierrez, did not contact her; Ms. Gutierrez was stripped of her rights in 2001 after a series of customer complaints surfaced.
The series also questioned the reliability of cell phone tower records, and revealed that physical evidence collected in 1999 had never been tested for Mr. Syed’s DNA.
The podcast was downloaded more than 100 million times in its first year, drawing widespread public attention to the incident. It won a Peabody Award for “a compelling, insightful explanation of how guilt, truth, and reality are dictated.”
2016
A judge authorizes a new trial.
During the hearings, Mr. Syed’s defense team argued that his initial defense was completely negligent and presented alibi witness testimony. The team also questioned why the original attorney did not question the reliability of cell phone tower records.
A judge in Maryland granted a new trial in June, and the state appealed the ruling. Ms. Lee’s family expressed pain and indignation at the decision to call a new trial, saying they “continue to believe that justice was done when Mr. Syed was found guilty of Hae’s murder.”
Lawyer for question let him get bail; motion was denied.
2018
Mr. Syed won another appeal.
Maryland Court of Special Appeals upheld Mr. Syed’s decision to allow a new trial and disregarded his beliefs, agreeing that he had received ineffective legal advice. He is still in custody.
2019
Maryland’s highest court denied the new trial.
Reversal of decisions from 2018, Maryland’s highest court, the Court of Appeals, ruled in a 4 to 3 decision that although defense attorneys were initially “shortage,” Mr. Syed was not “biased” by the shortage. there. It denied him a new trial and reinstated his sentence.
In November, the US Supreme Court refused to hear his case.
A four-part HBO documentary begins in March,”The case against Adnan Syed“, it was revealed that the DNA tests performed at the request of Mr. Syed’s new attorneys did not find anyone else’s DNA on Ms. Lee’s body or belongings.
2022
Request to overturn the conviction
In March, prosecutors agree to the new DNA test, says that it is recognized because of advances in genetic profiling. A new Maryland law gives prosecutors discretion to modify the sentences of offenders who were under 18 at the time of their crimes and have served at least 20 years in prison.
On September 14, prosecutors ask a judge to overturn Mr. Syed’s sentence. They said an investigation uncovered the potential involvement of two “alternative suspects”, key evidence prosecutors may have failed to provide Syed’s attorney, and “substitute matters”. substantial credibility issues concerning the most substantial pieces of evidence” presented at trial.
They asked him to be given a new trial “at a minimum” and published to his personal approval.
“After a nearly year-long investigation looking into the circumstances of this case, Syed deserves a new trial, where he is fully represented and can present the latest evidence,” said Marilyn J. Mosby, state attorney for the city of Baltimore, said in a statement.
Mr. Syed is now 41 years old.
