Judge Overturns Adnan Syed of ‘Serial’ Podcast’s Murder Conviction After 23 Years Behind Bars

A Baltimore decide on Monday overturned the homicide conviction of Adnan Syed, the person whose homicide conviction served as the topic for the favored Serial podcast. Syed has spent over twenty years behind bars serving a life sentence after prosecutors accused him of strangling and murdering his ex-girlfriend when he was 17 years previous.

Serial’s huge viewership and affect have been credited partly for casting doubt on the homicide prices and for renewing authorized efforts to overrule his conviction. Now, 23 years later, Syed’s reportedly being launched with out bail.

According to The New York Times City Circuit Court Judge Melissa Phinn was convinced of Syed’s wrongful conviction and moved to vacate prices of kidnapping, theft and false imprisonment levied towards him, “in the interests of fairness and justice.”

“At this time, we will remove the shackles from Mr. Syed,” Phinn reportedly mentioned throughout her announcement. Prosecutors have 30 days to determine whether or not they’ll search a brand new trial or drop the costs altogether. During that point, Syed will probably be resigned to house detention.

Maryland’s Court of Special Appeals granted Syed a new trial in 2018 after his authorized workforce argued he had acquired ineffective authorized counsel. Syed’s new authorized workforce argued his earlier lawyer did not cross-examine an professional witness for the prosecution on the reliability of cell tower location knowledge that was used to supposedly place Syed on the web site the place Hae Min Lee, his girlfriend, was buried.

Phinn, on Monday, dominated that state prosecutors violated their authorized obligation to share proof that would have aided Syed’s case. Last week, prosecutors reportedly filed a movement the place they revealed an investigation performed alongside the protection uncovered, “undisclosed and newly-developed information,” that doubtlessly implicates two various topics, according to Bloomberg. The prosecutors stopped in need of admitting Syed’s innocence, however in a serious shift, mentioned they not held confidence, “in the integrity of the conviction.”