Monday court hearing could determine whether Adnan Syed walks free
BALTIMORE -- Adnan Syed could be released from prison tomorrow.
A court hearing is scheduled for Monday at 2 p.m. to consider a joint request from prosecutors and defense attorneys to set him free.
The court could decide to throw out his conviction.
If the court does agree with the request to grant Syed a new trial, then he will have a new arraignment or new plea after spending two decades serving a life sentence for the 1999 slaying of his ex-girlfriend, Hae Min Lee.
Syed was made famous by a podcast called Serial.
"In the interest of fairness and justice, he is entitled to a new trial," Baltimore State's Attorney Marylin Mosby said.
Mosby, the city's top prosecutor, told ABC News that an investigation found multiple flaws in the case of 41-year-old Syed.
Now, new evidence could undermine his conviction.
"One of the suspects were improperly cleared by investigators based on faulty polygraph tests," Mosby said.
Adam Ruther, a partner with Rosenberg Martin Greenberg, said Monday's decision is not a guarantee Syed will be free—even if both parties come to the table with the same request.
"The most important decision the judge needs to make tomorrow is whether the court agrees that Mr. Syed should be given a new trial and that, if so, whether he should be released pending that new trial or whether he should remain incarcerated," Ruther said.
A retrial could be a challenge, he said.
"Witnesses move on with their lives," Ruther said. "They become unavailable. Some witnesses pass away. A case like this, trying to try 20 years after the incident actually happened, is much harder than trying it right after it happened."
Lee disappeared in 1999. Her body was found in Leakin Park.
Syed's brother, Yusuf, told WJZ exclusively that he believes his brother is innocent.
"The policy, they didn't do their job," he said. "They were just fixated on Adnan, so they wanted to point everyone towards him.
Prosecutors from Mosby's office are pointing to two alternative suspects.
If a judge grants their motion, then they typically have 30 days to decide whether or not to retry the case or drop the charges.
Lee's' family said in a public statement in 2016 that the renewed effort to defend Syed had "reopened wounds few can imagine."
"It remains hard to see so many run to defend someone who committed a horrible crime, who destroyed our family, who refuses to accept responsibility, when so few are willing to speak up for Hae," the family said in a statement. "She stood up for what was right, regardless of popular opinion."
