Murder conviction overturned for podcast star
A US judge has overturned the high profile murder conviction of Adnan Syed, who served more that 20 years behind bars for the death of his ex-girlfriend.
Th 42-year-old's case shot to fame when he became the subject of the Serial podcast, which went on to gain worldwide notoriety.
Baltimore City Circuit Court Judge Melissa Phinn vacated the conviction of Syed, who had been serving a life sentence since 2000 for the 1999 murder of Hae Min Lee.
Phinn ordered Syed to be immediately released on his own recognisance “in the interests of justice and fairness”.
The body of Hae Min Lee was found buried in February 1999 in a shallow grave in the woods of Baltimore, Maryland, with the autopsy revealing the cause of death for the 18-year-old was strangulation.
Throughout his multiple appeals of the guilty verdict, Syed maintained his innocence, while his appeals were continuously denied, including by the US Supreme Court which declined in 2019 to hear his case.
In a surprising move last week, the Baltimore City state’s attorney, Marilyn Mosby, announced that she had asked a judge to vacate Syed’s conviction while a further investigation is carried out.
Assistant state’s attorney Becky Feldman told the judge that the decision was prompted by the discovery of new information regarding two alternative suspects and the unreliability of mobile phone data used to convict Syed.
“The state has lost confidence in the integrity of his conviction,” Feldman said. “We need to make sure we hold the correct person accountable.
“We will be continuing our investigation,” she said, while promising to “do everything we can to bring justice to the Lee family.”
Prosecutors now have 30 days to either bring new charges or dismiss the case.
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