Judge Overturns Conviction of Adnan Syed

Baltimore Circuit Judge Melissa Phinn approved a motion by prosecutors Monday to overturn Adnan Syed’s murder conviction in the 1999 killing of Hae Min Lee. Syed’s case gained national attention after it was focused on the podcast Serial.

Lee, 18, was strangled to death and then buried in Leakin Park. Authorities theorized that Syed killed Lee, his ex-girlfriend, after the pair struggled in a car. Syed was 17 at the time of his arrest and was behind bars until Wednesday

Syed’s first trial in 1999 ended in a mistrial. When he was tried for a second time in 2000, a jury found him guilty. He was then sentenced to life in prison plus 30 years. He and his family have maintained his innocence since he was arrested.

During yesterday’s hearing, an attorney representing the Lee family asked for the hearing to be postponed since they live on the west coast. Lee’s brother, Young Lee, told the court over Zoom: "This is not a podcast for me. It's real life that will never end — it's been 20-plus years. It's a nightmare … This is killing us.”

Syed appeared in court Monday after Baltimore city prosecutors filed a motion to vacate his murder conviction in the death of his ex-girlfriend Hae Min Lee, according to WBAL-TV. In their motion, prosecutors noted that there were two other potential suspects they have known about since 1999. One suspect was convicted on multiple charges of sexual assault after Syed’s conviction.

Syed walked out of the court room as a free man Monday. He will be on house arrest for the next thirty days while prosecutors make a decision whether to re-try him.

Baltimore State’s Attorney Marilyn Mosby’s office is waiting for DNA analysis to make a final decision on whether to completely drop Syed’s charges. While she did not commit to dismissing the case on Monday she did admit that much of the evidence used in Syed’s initial trial, such as outdated cell phone location data, is useless, according to the Baltimore Sun.

Hae Min Lee