BALTIMORE — Adnan Syed was convicted of murder when he was a juvenile and sentenced to life in prison, now in his 40's, shackles have been removed and he has been granted a new trial.
A Baltimore City Circuit Court judge has approved Baltimore City Prosecutor's motion to vacate the murder conviction of Syed.
"Adnan has been in prison since he was a 17-year-old child. 23 years, as you could imagine, today is both joyful and incredibly overwhelming,” said Erica Suter, Syed’s Defense Council.
Syed was found guilty for the murder of his ex-girlfriend Hae Min Lee back in 1999.
Court documents state Lee was last seen at Woodlawn High School in January, weeks later her body was discovered buried in Leakin Park. The cause of her death found to be strangulation.
Syed was sentenced to life in prison, but evidence was questioned after the podcast "Serial" gave the case national recognition in 2014.
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Prosecutors say cell phone data used during Syed's original trial was unreliable and they have uncovered undisclosed material that points to two other suspects.
City state's attorney Marilyn Mosby says it is the basis to the violation deemed by the judge.
"Our reinvestigation revealed that the original prosecutors and the subsequent prosecutors at the Attorney General’s Office failed to disclose relevant information about alternative suspects, one of whom threatened to kill the victim and had motive to kill the victim and both of whom had a pattern of violence against women,” said Mosby.
This has been a year long investigation for the prosecutors.
The attorney for the victim says the victim's family didn't have enough notice for trial, where the judge allowed the victim's family to join in on zoom.
The family for Lee said they felt the state had failed them because they trusted them to convict the correct person and they thought Syed was the right person.
"They're disappointed with the process more than the result. They were not given the information as to why the state filed this motion after 20 years of standing by this conviction. So the family just wanted information they wanted to know why this motion was being filed,” said Steve Kelly, victim's family attorney.
One of Syed's friends, Sarah Patel, was also in attendance at the hearing.
She says she has known Syed since he was a little kid and was happy to see him walking free out of the court.
"I’m here to support Adnan and everything that he has been going through and I know he is innocent, I always knew he was innocent. So I'm glad we got to witness him,” said Sarah Patel, close friend of Syed.
Syed was released under home detention, but a new trial date has not been set yet.
The prosecutors are saying they are not declaring syed is innocent, just that he deserves a fair trial.
The prosecutors have 30 days to seek a new trial date or dismiss the case.
