{"id":23424,"date":"2022-09-20T06:40:33","date_gmt":"2022-09-20T10:40:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/worldjusticenews.com\/news\/?p=23424"},"modified":"2022-09-20T06:40:33","modified_gmt":"2022-09-20T10:40:33","slug":"adnan-syed-conviction-overturned-in-serial-podcast-murder-case","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/worldjusticenews.com\/news\/2022\/09\/20\/adnan-syed-conviction-overturned-in-serial-podcast-murder-case\/","title":{"rendered":"Adnan Syed: Conviction overturned in Serial podcast murder case"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"ssrcss-uf6wea-RichTextComponentWrapper ep2nwvo0\" data-component=\"text-block\">\n<div class=\"ssrcss-7uxr49-RichTextContainer e5tfeyi1\">\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph eq5iqo00\"><b class=\"ssrcss-hmf8ql-BoldText e5tfeyi3\">A US judge has quashed a Baltimore man&#8217;s murder conviction in a case that spawned hit true crime podcast Serial.<\/b><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"ssrcss-uf6wea-RichTextComponentWrapper ep2nwvo0\" data-component=\"text-block\">\n<div class=\"ssrcss-7uxr49-RichTextContainer e5tfeyi1\">\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph eq5iqo00\">Adnan Syed was 19 when he was sentenced to life in prison for the death of his ex-girlfriend, Hae Min Lee, whose body was found buried in the woods in 1999.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"ssrcss-uf6wea-RichTextComponentWrapper ep2nwvo0\" data-component=\"text-block\">\n<div class=\"ssrcss-7uxr49-RichTextContainer e5tfeyi1\">\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph eq5iqo00\">Prosecutors last week asked the court to throw out his conviction, saying a year-long case review had turned up two &#8220;alternative suspects&#8221;.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"ssrcss-uf6wea-RichTextComponentWrapper ep2nwvo0\" data-component=\"text-block\">\n<div class=\"ssrcss-7uxr49-RichTextContainer e5tfeyi1\">\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph eq5iqo00\">Syed will be released into home detention.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"ssrcss-uf6wea-RichTextComponentWrapper ep2nwvo0\" data-component=\"text-block\">\n<div class=\"ssrcss-7uxr49-RichTextContainer e5tfeyi1\">\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph eq5iqo00\">Now 41, his shackles were taken off in court on Monday after nearly 23 years behind bars.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"ssrcss-uf6wea-RichTextComponentWrapper ep2nwvo0\" data-component=\"text-block\">\n<div class=\"ssrcss-7uxr49-RichTextContainer e5tfeyi1\">\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph eq5iqo00\">Baltimore Circuit Judge Melissa Phinn said she was vacating his conviction &#8220;in the interest of fairness and justice&#8221;, adding the state had failed to share evidence that could have helped his defence at trial.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"ssrcss-uf6wea-RichTextComponentWrapper ep2nwvo0\" data-component=\"unordered-list-block\">\n<div class=\"ssrcss-7uxr49-RichTextContainer e5tfeyi1\">\n<div class=\"ssrcss-1o5f7ft-BulletListContainer e5tfeyi0\">\n<ul role=\"list\">\n<li><a class=\"ssrcss-k17ofw-InlineLink e1no5rhv0\" href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/news\/world-us-canada-62964216\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Adnan Syed and Serial: What you need to know<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"ssrcss-uf6wea-RichTextComponentWrapper ep2nwvo0\" data-component=\"text-block\">\n<div class=\"ssrcss-7uxr49-RichTextContainer e5tfeyi1\">\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph eq5iqo00\">The decision does not mean Syed is innocent. Judge Phinn has ordered a new trial.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"ssrcss-uf6wea-RichTextComponentWrapper ep2nwvo0\" data-component=\"text-block\">\n<div class=\"ssrcss-7uxr49-RichTextContainer e5tfeyi1\">\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph eq5iqo00\">A jury found Syed guilty in 2000 of premeditated murder, kidnapping, robbery and false imprisonment.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"ssrcss-uf6wea-RichTextComponentWrapper ep2nwvo0\" data-component=\"text-block\">\n<div class=\"ssrcss-7uxr49-RichTextContainer e5tfeyi1\">\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph eq5iqo00\">Prosecutors argued he was a scorned lover who strangled Lee, his classmate at Woodlawn High School, and &#8211; with the help of a friend &#8211; hid her body in Baltimore&#8217;s Leakin Park. They relied in part on mobile phone location data that has since been proven unreliable.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"ssrcss-uf6wea-RichTextComponentWrapper ep2nwvo0\" data-component=\"text-block\">\n<div class=\"ssrcss-7uxr49-RichTextContainer e5tfeyi1\">\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph eq5iqo00\">Every appeal Syed has filed over the past two decades has been denied, including his most recent attempt in 2019.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"ssrcss-uf6wea-RichTextComponentWrapper ep2nwvo0\" data-component=\"text-block\">\n<div class=\"ssrcss-7uxr49-RichTextContainer e5tfeyi1\">\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph eq5iqo00\">It was the 2014 podcast Serial that focused worldwide attention on the case and cast doubt on Syed&#8217;s guilt. Episodes of the show have been downloaded more than 340 million times. The case has also spawned other works, including an HBO docuseries in 2019.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"ssrcss-uf6wea-RichTextComponentWrapper ep2nwvo0\" data-component=\"text-block\">\n<div class=\"ssrcss-7uxr49-RichTextContainer e5tfeyi1\">\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph eq5iqo00\">The Baltimore State Attorney&#8217;s Office, which studied the case over the past year alongside Syed&#8217;s latest defence attorney, said on Wednesday that he &#8220;deserves a new trial&#8221;.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"ssrcss-uf6wea-RichTextComponentWrapper ep2nwvo0\" data-component=\"text-block\">\n<div class=\"ssrcss-7uxr49-RichTextContainer e5tfeyi1\">\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph eq5iqo00\">Prosecutors said they lacked &#8220;confidence in the integrity of the conviction&#8221; and had identified two new potential suspects who were known to police since the 1999 murder.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"ssrcss-uf6wea-RichTextComponentWrapper ep2nwvo0\" data-component=\"text-block\">\n<div class=\"ssrcss-7uxr49-RichTextContainer e5tfeyi1\">\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph eq5iqo00\">Neither suspect has been named, but officials said both had documented records of violence towards women, including convictions that occurred after Syed&#8217;s trial. One suspect was cleared from the investigation into Lee&#8217;s death after failing a lie-detector test, a method no longer admissible in many US courts.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"ssrcss-uf6wea-RichTextComponentWrapper ep2nwvo0\" data-component=\"text-block\">\n<div class=\"ssrcss-7uxr49-RichTextContainer e5tfeyi1\">\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph eq5iqo00\">&#8220;Our prosecutors have been sworn to not only aggressively advocate on behalf of victims of crime but when the evidence exists to exonerate those that have been falsely accused and convicted,&#8221; lead prosecutor Marilyn Mosby said outside the court.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"ssrcss-uf6wea-RichTextComponentWrapper ep2nwvo0\" data-component=\"text-block\">\n<div class=\"ssrcss-7uxr49-RichTextContainer e5tfeyi1\">\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph eq5iqo00\">She was interrupted by loud cheers as Syed exited the building through a scrum of cameras and supporters.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"ssrcss-uf6wea-RichTextComponentWrapper ep2nwvo0\" data-component=\"text-block\">\n<div class=\"ssrcss-7uxr49-RichTextContainer e5tfeyi1\">\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph eq5iqo00\">Before the ruling, the victim&#8217;s brother told the court through tears that he was &#8220;not against the investigation&#8221;, but had been blind-sided by prosecutors.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"ssrcss-uf6wea-RichTextComponentWrapper ep2nwvo0\" data-component=\"text-block\">\n<div class=\"ssrcss-7uxr49-RichTextContainer e5tfeyi1\">\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph eq5iqo00\">&#8220;Everyday when I think it&#8217;s over&#8230; or it&#8217;s ended, it always comes back. It&#8217;s killing me,&#8221; said Young Lee.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"ssrcss-uf6wea-RichTextComponentWrapper ep2nwvo0\" data-component=\"text-block\">\n<div class=\"ssrcss-7uxr49-RichTextContainer e5tfeyi1\">\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph eq5iqo00\">&#8220;This is not a podcast for me. This is real life &#8211; a never-ending nightmare for 20-plus years.&#8221;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"ssrcss-uf6wea-RichTextComponentWrapper ep2nwvo0\" data-component=\"text-block\">\n<div class=\"ssrcss-7uxr49-RichTextContainer e5tfeyi1\">\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph eq5iqo00\">Steve Kelly, a victim&#8217;s rights lawyer for the family, said the Lees had been &#8220;shut out of the legal process&#8221; and were &#8220;deeply disappointed&#8221; with the way they had been treated.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"ssrcss-uf6wea-RichTextComponentWrapper ep2nwvo0\" data-component=\"text-block\">\n<div class=\"ssrcss-7uxr49-RichTextContainer e5tfeyi1\">\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph eq5iqo00\">&#8220;All they wanted was information,&#8221; said Mr Kelly. &#8220;If the truth is that somebody else killed their daughter, they want to know that more than anyone.&#8221;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"ssrcss-uf6wea-RichTextComponentWrapper ep2nwvo0\" data-component=\"text-block\">\n<div class=\"ssrcss-7uxr49-RichTextContainer e5tfeyi1\">\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph eq5iqo00\">Serial Productions, which produced the podcast, has just released a new episode &#8211; the 13th &#8211; about the latest in the legal saga.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"ssrcss-uf6wea-RichTextComponentWrapper ep2nwvo0\" data-component=\"text-block\">\n<div class=\"ssrcss-7uxr49-RichTextContainer e5tfeyi1\">\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph eq5iqo00\">The series brought international attention to the murder of Hae Min Lee and was one of the first hit podcasts of the past decade&#8217;s boom in audio content.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"ssrcss-uf6wea-RichTextComponentWrapper ep2nwvo0\" data-component=\"text-block\">\n<div class=\"ssrcss-7uxr49-RichTextContainer e5tfeyi1\">\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph eq5iqo00\">It was followed by other shows which raised questions about existing murder convictions or drew attention to cold cases &#8211; attracting big audiences and also, possibly, having an impact on the course of justice.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"ssrcss-uf6wea-RichTextComponentWrapper ep2nwvo0\" data-component=\"text-block\">\n<div class=\"ssrcss-7uxr49-RichTextContainer e5tfeyi1\">\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph eq5iqo00\">They include In the Dark, a US podcast focusing on the case of Curtis Flowers, a black Mississippi man tried six times for the same crime by the same white prosecutor.\u00a0<a class=\"ssrcss-k17ofw-InlineLink e1no5rhv0\" href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/news\/world-us-canada-48723972\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">His conviction was subsequently quashed by the US Supreme Court over racial bias<\/a>\u00a0and he was released after 23 years in prison in 2019.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"ssrcss-uf6wea-RichTextComponentWrapper ep2nwvo0\" data-component=\"text-block\">\n<div class=\"ssrcss-7uxr49-RichTextContainer e5tfeyi1\">\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph eq5iqo00\">The unsolved killing of\u00a0<a class=\"ssrcss-k17ofw-InlineLink e1no5rhv0\" href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/news\/resources\/idt-sh\/the_doorstep_murder_alistair_wilson\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Alistair Wilson, a father-of-two who was shot on his doorstep in the seaside town of Nairn<\/a>\u00a0in the Scottish Highlands in 2004, was the focus of the BBC&#8217;s podcast The Doorstep Murder, which came out in 2018. His death remains unsolved but Police Scotland&#8217;s major investigations team said earlier this year they believe a planning dispute was the likely motive.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"ssrcss-uf6wea-RichTextComponentWrapper ep2nwvo0\" data-component=\"text-block\">\n<div class=\"ssrcss-7uxr49-RichTextContainer e5tfeyi1\">\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph eq5iqo00\">And last month an\u00a0<a class=\"ssrcss-k17ofw-InlineLink e1no5rhv0\" href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/news\/world-australia-62719515\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Australian man who became the subject of a popular crime podcast was found guilty of his wife&#8217;s murder<\/a>\u00a0&#8211; 40 years after she went missing. Chris Dawson was charged with the murder of his wife Lynette in 2018 after the podcast, The Teacher&#8217;s Pet, garnered global attention and prompted a renewed investigation. Mrs Dawson&#8217;s body has never been found.<\/p>\n<p>Source: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/news\/world-us-canada-62963466\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">bbc.co.uk<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<div class=\"mh-excerpt\">A US judge has quashed a Baltimore man&#8217;s murder conviction in a case that spawned hit true crime podcast Serial. Adnan Syed was 19 when he was sentenced to life in prison for the death <a class=\"mh-excerpt-more\" href=\"https:\/\/worldjusticenews.com\/news\/2022\/09\/20\/adnan-syed-conviction-overturned-in-serial-podcast-murder-case\/\" title=\"Adnan Syed: Conviction overturned in Serial podcast murder case\">[&#8230;]<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":23425,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pmpro_default_level":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[2,3],"tags":[5759,4877,8781,1310],"class_list":{"0":"post-23424","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-news","8":"category-usa","9":"tag-adnan-syed","10":"tag-baltimore","11":"tag-serial-podcast","12":"tag-us-supreme-court","13":"pmpro-has-access"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/worldjusticenews.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23424","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/worldjusticenews.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/worldjusticenews.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worldjusticenews.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worldjusticenews.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23424"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/worldjusticenews.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23424\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":23427,"href":"https:\/\/worldjusticenews.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23424\/revisions\/23427"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worldjusticenews.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/23425"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/worldjusticenews.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23424"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worldjusticenews.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23424"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worldjusticenews.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23424"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}