Serial Podcast subject, Adnan Syed, could have conviction undermined with new evidence

In the case that shot to worldwide fame due to the hit Serial Podcast, a man who was found guilty of killing his ex-girlfriend in 1999 could have his conviction undermined as prosecutors have asked a judge to vacate the conviction. 

Adnan Syed was convicted in 2000 of killing Hai Min Lee who was strangled and buried in a Baltimore park. Syed, now 42 has always maintained his innocence and was 17 at the time he was convicted, serving more than 20 years in prison as a result. 

After a nearly year-long investigation by the state attorney with the defence, new evidence was uncovered with information that suggests the possible involvement of two alternative suspects in the murder. 

In a statement to The Wall Street Journal, Baltimore State’s Attorney Marilyn Mosby, who is overseeing the investigation, said that prosecutors are requesting Syed be given a new trial. They say they weren’t asserting that he is innocent, however, she states, “For all the reasons set forth below, the State no longer has confidence in the integrity of the conviction.”

The two suspects that were uncovered with new and existing evidence prosecutors revealed were known at the time of the first investigation, but not properly ruled out. In the reinvestigation, prosecutors uncovered a document in the state’s trial file which was one person’s statement, saying that one of the uncovered suspects had a motive to kill Lee and had threatened her in front of another person.

The suspect said “he would make her (Lee) disappear. He would kill her,” according to the court filing. 

This information was never given to the defence, the filing said.

The case was made famous by the Serial Podcast in 2014 with investigative journalist, Sarah Koenig over twelve episodes. The podcast investigated the case and pointed out inconsistencies that resulted in the conviction, and most notably, raised doubts about some of the evidence, including the validity of cell phone tower data that was one of the main pieces of evidence for the prosecution in Syed’s original trial. 

Upon release, Serial reached five million downloads faster than any podcast to date, and a year after its release was still being downloaded 500,000 times a day.

See Also: Chris Dawson, subject of The Teacher’s Pet podcast, found guilty