Prosecutors drop charges against Adnan Syed, subject of "Serial" podcast, in 1999 killing
Prosecutors dropped charges against Adnan Syed on Tuesday in the 1999 killing of Hae Min Lee, a case that was chronicled in the hit podcast "Serial." Baltimore State's Attorney Marilyn Mosby announced the decision during a press conference Tuesday afternoon.
Mosby told reporters that new DNA tests found a "DNA mixture of multiple contributors" on Lee's shoes, which Mosby said hadn't been tested before.
"Most compellingly, Adnan Syed, his DNA was excluded," Mosby said.
Mosby said her office would continue to pursue justice for Lee but that it had closed its case against Syed, who spent 23 years in prison for the killing.
Syed's attorney Erica Suter celebrated the news, noting that Syed wasn't ready yet to speak about it publicly.
"Today's the day that Adnan Syed and his loved ones have been waiting for 23 long years," Suter said during a Zoom call with reporters. "The results of the DNA testing excluded Adnan and confirm what Adnan and his supporters have always known: that Adnan Syed is innocent. The state of Maryland has dropped the charges. Adnan Syed is free."
Suter said Syed's legal team would begin working with the state attorney's office as soon as possible to formally certify his innocence. She said it was premature to say whether they would seek compensation for wrongful conviction.
Laura Nirider, a co-director of the Center on Wrongful Convictions at Northwestern Pritzker School of Law who accompanied Syed when he walked out of prison last month, reacted to the news earlier in the day by tweeting: "He has now been formally exonerated!"
A Baltimore judge last month overturned Syed's murder conviction and ordered him released from prison, where the 41-year-old had spent more than two decades. Circuit Judge Melissa Phinn also gave prosecutors 30 days in which to decide whether to retry Syed or drop the charges.
Phinn ruled that the state violated its legal obligation to share evidence that could have bolstered Syed's defense. After his release, Syed was placed on home detention with GPS location monitoring.
Lee's family had asked Maryland's intermediate appellate court to halt the case. Attorney Steve Kelly said Lee's family is not challenging Syed's release, but instead wanted the judge to hold another hearing that the family can attend in-person and address the court — Lee's brother Young Lee appeared via videoconference on short notice during the previous hearing.
In a statement Tuesday, Kelly said the Lee family learned about prosecutors' decision to drop the charges against Syed through news accounts.
"The family received no notice and their attorney was offered no opportunity to be present at the proceeding," Kelly said. "By rushing to dismiss the criminal charges, the State's Attorney's Office sought to silence Hae Min Lee's family and to prevent the family and the public from understanding why the State so abruptly changed its position of more than 20 years. All this family ever wanted was answers and a voice. Today's actions robbed them of both."
Mosby said Tuesday that the family's appeal would have no effect on her office's decision to drop the charges against Syed.
Asked about the status of the Lee family's appeal, Suter noted that the court of appeals has not dismissed it. Syed's legal team was awaiting that court's next action.
Last week, state Attorney General Brian Frosh's office filed court papers supporting the appeal by Lee's family.
Syed has maintained his innocence for decades and captured the attention of millions in 2014 when the debut season of "Serial" focused on the case and raised doubts about some of the evidence, including cellphone tower data.
In September, Mosby told CBS Baltimore she was waiting on DNA tests before deciding whether to retry Syed.
"If that DNA comes back inconclusive, I will certify that he's innocent," Mosby told the station. "If it comes back to two alternative suspects, I will certify that he's innocent. If it comes back to Adnan Syed, the state is still in a position to proceed upon the prosecution."
Prosecutors have previously said that a reinvestigation of the case revealed evidence regarding the possible involvement of two alternate suspects. The two suspects may have been involved individually or together, the state's attorney's office said.
One of the suspects had threatened Lee, saying "he would make her (Ms. Lee) disappear. He would kill her," according to a court filing.
The suspects were known persons at the time of the original investigation and were not properly ruled out nor disclosed to the defense, prosecutors said.
Prosecutors also said new information revealed that one of the suspects was convicted of attacking a woman in her vehicle, and that one of the suspects was convicted of engaging in serial rape and sexual assault.
Prosecutors also noted unreliable cellphone data was used during Syed's court case to corroborate his whereabouts on the day of the crime. The notice on the records specifically advised that the billing locations for incoming calls "would not be considered reliable information for location."
Lee was 18 at the time of her death. Her body was found weeks later buried in a Baltimore park.