Adnan Syed, the subject of both his 2014 hit podcast “Serial” and HBO’s 2019 documentary “The Case Against Adnan Syed,” could soon be a free man on the advice of prosecutors.
State lawyers in Baltimore moved on Wednesday to vacate Syed’s 2000 sentence for the murder of his former girlfriend Hee Min Lee and request a new trial, baltimore sun informed of. He also said that pending new developments should be issued to him.
A year-long investigation by the Baltimore State Attorney’s Office and Syed’s attorney, Erica Sutter, concluded that prosecutors were guilty of multiple Brady breaches, a failure to disclose potentially explanatory information to Syed’s defense attorneys. He was not made aware that there were two additional suspects in the case, one of whom threatened Lee with “he would make her disappear. He would kill her,” the motion said.
Becky Feldman, head of the state attorney’s office’s sentencing review unit, wrote in the motion, “The Brady breaches of the state robbed the defendant of information, bolstering his investigation and argument that someone else was responsible for the victim’s death.” ” The new information has “caused the state to lose faith in the integrity of the convicts.”
Sutter, director of the University of Baltimore School of Law’s Innocence Project Clinic, said: “Given the surprising lack of credible evidence involving Mr. Syed, with mounting evidence pointing to other suspects, this unjustified belief cannot stand could.” “Mr. Syed is grateful that this information has finally seen the light of day and is looking forward to his day in court.”
Sayed’s longtime friend Rabia Choudhary, who worked for years to prove his innocence, told The Sun: “It’s valid. That’s what we’ve been saying for decades.” Choudhary wrote, “Adnan’s Kahani: The Search for Truth and Justice After Serial,” and now he hopes to finally get a fair trial. “This is what he didn’t get when he was 17. We know he’s innocent,” she said.
The family of Lee, who was strangled in Baltimore’s Leakin Park in 1999, has been informed of the proposal, but has yet to comment.
Maryland Public Defender Natasha Dartig issued a statement saying the disclosure of evidence withheld for more than 20 years in Syed’s case should “shock the conscience.”
In his statement, he wrote, “This is a true example of how justice delayed is justice denied. An innocent person spends decades wrongfully imprisoned while any information or evidence that can help identify the real culprit.” Maybe, it becomes difficult to follow him.”
The names of the two additional suspects have not been disclosed as the case is still ongoing.
