After 23 years in prison, murder charges dropped vs. Adnan Syed

THE INNOCENCE PROJECT

Murder charges against Adnan Syed, in tie, were dropped.

After 23 years in a prison, Adnan Syed is a free man after Maryland prosecutors dropped murder charges against him.

Once again, the question that haunted thousands of podcast listeners is raised: Who killed Hae Min Lee?

Syed was convicted of killing his former high school girlfriend Hae Min Lee in 1999. His trial and the subsequent podcast, "Serial," gathered hundreds of thousands of followers questioning the prosecution's evidence that put Syed behind bars.

The Maryland attorney general dropped the charges because of the results of DNA testing “that excluded Mr. Syed from the DNA recovered from the evidence,” said a statement from the state's Office of the Public Defender.

In a motion filed in Baltimore City Circuit Court last month, prosecutors said that a nearly yearlong investigation, conducted with Syed's lawyer Erica J. Suter, had found two possible “alternative suspects,” who have not been named publicly or charged.

Prosecutors also said new information revealed that one of the suspects was convicted of attacking a woman in her vehicle, and that one of the suspects was convicted of engaging in serial rape and sexual assault.

The investigation also questioned the reliability of evidence used to convict Pakistani American Syed.

Based on that motion, last month a judge released 41-year old Syed from prison and placed him in home detention with electronic monitoring.

During his trial and even after his conviction, Syed had maintained his innocence. Supporteres, friends and family continued to raise questions about the investigation and evidence attracting the attention of podcaster producers of "This American Live," hosted by Sarah Koenig. 

In 2014, a podcast, "Serial," produced. by This American Life, gained mullions of listeners nationwide as it questioned whether Syed had received a fair trail. "Serial" was downloaded more than 100 million times in its first year, bringing nationwid attention to the case. The podcast won a Peabody Award for its “compelling, drilling account of how guilt, truth and reality are decided.”

Murder victim Hae Min Lee, left, and Adnan Syed dated each other in high school

In 2015, a judge denied an appeal based on new evidence presented by the defense. Defense attorneys in 2019 then attempted to bring the case to the US Supreme Court which turned down the case.

In March of this year, prosecutors agreed to new DNA testing, saying that it was merited because of advances in genetic profiling. 

On Sept. 14, prosecutors asked a judge to overturn Syed’s conviction, which Judge Melissa M. Phinn of Baltimore City Circuit Court agreed to drop the charges against Syed “in the interests of justice and fairness.”

Monday (Oct. 11), the Maryland Office of the Public Defender said the charges were dropped because the new DNA evidence excluded Syed. 

An appeal before the Maryland Court of Special Appeals, in which the victim's family sought to pause proceedings, remains pending. 

“Finally, Adnan Syed is able to live as a free man,” Syed’s lawyer, Erica J. Suter, said in a statement. “The DNA results confirmed what we have already known and what underlies all of the current proceedings: that Adnan is innocent and lost 23 years of his life serving time for a crime he did not commit.”

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