Prosecutors Drop Charges Against Adnan Syed
Prosecutors with the Office of the State’s Attorney For Baltimore City have dropped charges against Adnan Syed in the 1999 murder of his ex-girlfriend Hae Min Lee. Syed was released on his own recognizance on September 19 while the State Attorney’s Office decided whether or not to re-try him based on new DNA evidence.
Hae Min Lee disappeared on January 3, 1999, after leaving Woodlawn High School in Baltimore, Maryland. Her body was found a month later buried in Baltimore’s Leakin Park. Syed’s first trial ended in a mistrial in 1999. His second trial led to a conviction on charges of first-degree murder, robbery, kidnapping, and imprisonment in 2000. He has maintained his innocence for the past 23 years.
Syed’s case garnered national attention when it was featured on the podcast “Serial” in 2014. Over a dozen episodes were released looking at nearly every aspect of his original trials and the failures of his former attorney, Cristina Gutierrez, according to the Daily Beast. Gutierrez was disbarred in 2001 due to misconduct.
A surprise motion was filed in September to vacate Syed’s murder conviction following a yearlong investigation. The investigation case revealed the possibility of two other suspects having involvement in Lee’s murder. Their motion also states that his trials were largely based on circumstantial evidence. It was also revealed that prosecutors in Syed’s original trial did not give Gutierrez evidence which would have allowed her to better defend him.
When Syed’s conviction was vacated September 19, he was placed on home detention with GPS monitoring. The decision whether to re-try Syed depended on the result of DNA analysis.
The Maryland Office of the Public Defender announced Tuesday morning that the DNA testing confirmed Syed’s innocence. In a press release from Baltimore State’s Attorney Marilyn Mosby, she states that her office has confirmed that Adnan Syed had no involvement in Lee’s murder.
Mosby revealed that there were two rounds of DNA testing performed. The first yielded no results. The results of the second round of testing was given to the State Attorney’s Office Friday. Touch DNA samples from Lee’s skirt, pantyhose, shoes, and jacket, revealed a “mixture of individuals DNA on her shoes.”
Under Maryland law, Syed is able to begin legal proceedings for compensation for his time he spent in prison.
