A Baltimore judge overturned Adnan Syed’s conviction, reports . The 41-year-old had been serving a life sentence for the 1999 murder of his ex-girlfriend Hae Min Lee. In 2014, his case attracted international interest after it was reported by former baltimore sun reporter Sarah Koenig on the first season of the hit podcast Serial.
Koenig spent more than a year investigating the details of Syed’s case, focusing in particular on the conduct of his attorney, Cristina Gutiérrez. In 2019, the Maryland Supreme Court found that Gutierrez had failed to properly investigate an alibi witness, but voted against granting Syed’s request for a new trial. However, prosecutors recently recommended that a judge grant him a new trial, saying the state had lost “confidence in the integrity of the conviction.” With Monday’s decision, the state has 30 days to decide whether to move forward with a new trial or drop the case altogether.
“This is not a podcast for me”, , Hae Min Lee’s brother, during Monday’s hearing. He said his family felt “betrayed” and “shocked” by the state’s motion to vacate Syed’s conviction. “Every time I think it’s over and over, it always comes back,” he added.
After the decision, Serial Announced would broadcast a new episode on Tuesday morning. In the years since its successful first season, Serial has produced a number of spin-offs, including Y . More broadly, it’s safe to say that the true crime genre and podcasts in general have never been more popular, even if the series was never able to replicate the success of its first season.
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