BALTIMORE — Adnan Syed is a free man, pending a potential new trial.
On Monday, Baltimore Circuit Court judge Melissa M. Phinn agreed to grant a motion by the Baltimore City State's Attorney's Office to vacate Syed's 1999 murder conviction.
Syed has been jailed since 1999, serving a life sentence for the murder of his high school girlfriend Hae Min Lee, whose body was discovered in Leakin Park.
The case gained national attention when it was featured on the podcast Serial, which questioned some evidence used to convict Syed.
Other information has since come to light leading some to doubt whether Syed was ever in fact guilty.
Prosecutors now say they've uncovered previously undisclosed material suggesting two other suspects would have potentially been responsible for the murder.
They asked Phinn on Monday to release Syed pending further investigation which will determine if a new trial is warranted.
"To be clear, the State is not asserting, at this time, that Mr. Syed is innocent," The Baltimore City State's Attorney's Office said when announcing their decision to seek a new trial. "While the investigation remains ongoing, when considering the totality of the circumstances, the State lacks confidence in the integrity of the conviction."
Phinn agreed, ordering Syed to be released under home detention. A new trial date has not yet been set.
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Defense attorneys claim that both of the 'alternate' suspects were known to investigators at the time Syed was charged, but they failed to disclose it which they say amounts to what is known as a Brady Violation.
Maryland Attorney General Brian Frosh issued a statement after the ruling, disputing those claims.
Among the other serious problems with the motion to vacate, the allegations related to Brady violations are incorrect.
Neither State’s Attorney Mosby nor anyone from her office bothered to consult with either the Assistant State’s Attorney who prosecuted the case or with anyone in my office regarding these alleged violations. The file in this case was made available on several occasions to the defense.
Syed's team says one of the 'alternate' suspects previously threatened to kill and make Lee disappear. The defense adds there is documentation that may provide that person's motive. Lee's car, they say had actually been found behind the home of one of those suspect's family members.
Much of Syed’s original trial hinged on cell phone data records, which prosecutors say is flawed and no longer reliable. They are also in the process of analyzing and reviewing new DNA findings.
During the original trial, the state contended dozens of calls were received placing Syed at Leakin Park on the date and time of the murder.
He has long claimed to have been elsewhere when the murder took place, despite one witness testifying that he helped Syed dig a hole for Lee's body. Prosecutors have since called that witness's credibility into question, as well as a detective who had worked on the case.
The U.S. Supreme Court and Maryland's high court have previously refused to overturn Syed's conviction.
An attorney for Lee's family asked Phinn to postpone the hearing so that her brother in California could attend, but the judge denied the request, and instead suggested he listen in via zoom.
After a brief recess, the brother spoke to the judge virtually about what his family's had to deal with since his sister's murder.
Following the judge's ruling, City State's Attorney Marilyn Mosby again reiterated that she is not yet prepared to declare Syed innocent.
She says there is also ongoing investigation into the other potential suspects, whose names for now are being withheld.
The Public Defenders Office released this statement celebrating the decision to vacate.
Adnan Syed never should have waited this long for his name to be cleared and his freedom restored. The information pointing to other, more likely, suspects was within the possession of the State Attorney's Office for 23 years. Withholding evidence is unconscionable and morally reprehensible.
For now, it's unclear if and when the state will convene a new jury for Syed's case to be heard again.
