By BRIAN WITTE
BALTIMORE (AP) — A Baltimore decide on Monday ordered the discharge of Adnan Syed after overturning Syed’s conviction for the 1999 homicide of Hae Min Lee — a case that was chronicled within the hit podcast “Serial,” a true-crime sequence that transfixed listeners and revolutionized the style.
At the behest of prosecutors who had uncovered new proof, Circuit Court Judge Melissa Phinn ordered that Syed’s conviction be vacated as she authorized the discharge of the now-41-year-old who has spent greater than 20 years behind bars. There have been gasps and applause within the crowded courtroom because the decide introduced her resolution.
Phinn dominated that the state violated its authorized obligation to share proof that might have bolstered Syed’s protection. She ordered Syed to be positioned on dwelling detention with GPS location monitoring. The decide additionally mentioned the state should resolve whether or not to hunt a brand new trial date or dismiss the case inside 30 days.
“All right Mr. Syed, you’re free to join your family,” Phinn mentioned because the listening to ended.
Minutes later, Syed emerged from the courthouse and flashed a small smile as he was shepherded to a ready SUV via a sea of cameras and a cheering crowd of supporters.
Syed has at all times maintained his innocence. His case captured the eye of hundreds of thousands in 2014 when the debut season of “Serial” targeted on Lee’s killing and raised doubts about a few of the proof prosecutors had used, inspiring heated debates throughout dinner tables and water coolers about Syed’s innocence or guilt.
Last week, prosecutors filed a movement saying {that a} prolonged investigation carried out with the protection had uncovered new proof that might undermine the 2000 conviction of Syed, Lee’s ex-boyfriend.
“I understand how difficult this is, but we need to make sure we hold the correct person accountable,” assistant state’s legal professional Becky Feldman informed the decide as she described numerous particulars from the case that undermine the decades-old conviction, together with different suspects, flawed cellphone information, unreliable witness testimony and a doubtlessly biased detective.
Syed was serving a life sentence after he was convicted of strangling 18-year-old Lee, whose physique was discovered buried in a Baltimore park.
The investigation “revealed undisclosed and newly-developed information regarding two alternative suspects, as well as unreliable cell phone tower data,” State’s Attorney Marilyn Mosby’s workplace mentioned in a information launch final week. The suspects have been identified individuals on the time of the unique investigation, however weren’t correctly dominated out nor disclosed to the protection, mentioned prosecutors, who declined to launch details about the suspects, as a result of ongoing investigation.
Prosecutors mentioned they weren’t asserting that Syed is harmless, however they lacked confidence “in the integrity of the conviction” and really useful he be launched on his personal recognizance or bail. The state’s legal professional’s workplace had mentioned if the movement have been granted it might successfully put Syed in a brand new trial standing, vacating his convictions, whereas the case remained energetic.
Syed was led into the crowded courtroom in handcuffs Monday. Wearing a white shirt with a tie, he sat subsequent to his legal professional. His mom and different household representatives have been within the room, as was Mosby.
In 2016, a decrease courtroom ordered a retrial for Syed on grounds that his legal professional, Cristina Gutierrez, who died in 2004, didn’t contact an alibi witness and supplied ineffective counsel.
But after a sequence of appeals, Maryland’s highest courtroom in 2019 denied a brand new trial in a 4-3 opinion. The Court of Appeals agreed with a decrease courtroom that Syed’s authorized counsel was poor in failing to analyze an alibi witness, nevertheless it disagreed that the deficiency prejudiced the case. The courtroom mentioned Syed waived his ineffective counsel declare.
The U.S. Supreme Court declined to evaluate Syed’s case in 2019.
The true-crime sequence was the brainchild of longtime radio producer and former Baltimore Sun reporter Sarah Koenig, who spent greater than a 12 months digging into Syed’s case and reporting her findings in virtually real-time in hour-long segments. The 12-episode podcast gained a Peabody Award and was transformative in popularizing podcasts for a large viewers.
“Justice is always worth the price paid for its pursuit,” Mosby mentioned in a information convention after the listening to.
Source: www.bostonherald.com”