Monday 19 September 2022 09:26 PM Adnan Syed's murder conviction has been overturned by Baltimore court trends now
Adnan Syed's murder conviction has been overturned after he served 22 years in prison for the murder of his girlfriend Hae Min Lee following a ruling on Monday in a Baltimore courtroom.
Following an hours long hearing in Baltimore's Circuit Court, Syed's 2000 conviction for the 1999 murder was overturned.
He is being released to home detention as the judge ordered a new trial. Circuit Court Judge Melissa M. Phinn said that her decision was 'in the interest of justice.'
Syed, 41, was serving a life sentence plus 40 years after he was convicted in 2000 of strangling Lee and burying her body in a shallow grave in Baltimore's Leakin Park. Syed and Lee were high-school classmates who had dated.
Though he was 17 at the time of the murder, Syed was tried as an adult. He has perpetually maintained his innocence.
He will now face a new trial in the case. At the time of writing, the trial date has not been set.
Prosecutors in Baltimore wereasking for Adnan Syed, pictured here in 2016, to be re-tried for the 1999 murder of Hae Min Lee
Rabia Chaudry, a childhood friend of Adnan Syed, arrives in court on Monday afternoon
Mickey Tait, clad in a shirt featuring Britain's Queen Elizabeth, sits next to Catina Carter, wearing a T-shirt with the name Adnan Syed whose case was chronicled in the hit podcast "Serial," as they wait outside the courthouse for developments in the hearing t
Prior to the decision to vacate the murder conviction, a lawyer representing Lee's family, Steven Kelly, launched a blistering attack on State's Attorney's office, calling the hastily arranged hearing 'outrageous.'
Among the reasons for the outrage was the fact Lee's brother, Young, wanted to attend the hearing but couldn't due to work.
Young did address the court saying: 'My heart is kind of pounding right now... I personally wanted to be there in person. I've been living with this for like 20 plus years. Everyday when I think it's over... or it's ended, it always comes back. It's killing me. It's really tough.'
He also spoke about how difficult it is to know that despite always thinking the right person was in prison for his sister's murder, now there are other suspects who are roaming free.
Syed appeared in court wearing a shirt and tie, he had his handcuffs removed prior to his appearance in the courtroom.
One of the speakers in the courtroom was Becky Feldman, chief of the State's Attorney's Office's Sentencing Review Unit.
Feldman has been investigating Syed's case since June 2022.
Among her findings was that another possible suspect had previously threatened to murder Lee, despite prosecutors knowing about this, the information was never passed on Syed's defense.
One of the alternative suspects had a history of violence against women including a conviction for several rapes.
Feldman made reference to AT&T publicly stating that the cellphone data that was used to put Syed at Lee's burial site around the time of the murder was not reliable.
She went on take aim at the state's witness in the Syed case, his former friend Jay Wilds who testified against him. Feldman said: 'He gave two different accounts to police about where saw the victim's body.'
In a report on her findings, Feldman said: 'It is in the interests of justice and fairness that these convictions be vacated and that the defendant, at a minimum, be afforded a new trial.'
Syed's lawyer, Erica Suter, began her remarks by saying: 'My client is innocent.' She added: 'Mr. Syed's conviction was built on a flawed investigation.'
The office of Baltimore State's Attorney Marilyn Mosby (above) also recommended in the motion that Syed be released without bond pending retrial
Syed is serving a life sentence after he was convicted of strangling Lee (with him above at prom). The two were high school classmates who had dated
The motion to vacate Syed's conviction came on
