Baltimore State’s Attorney’s Office filed a motion in state court to vacate the conviction of Adnan Syed from a 2000 murder trial, a case that gained national notoriety when it was featured on the “Serial” podcast, the Baltimore Banner reports.
Now 42-years-old, Syed was found guilty of the murder of Hae Min Lee in 1999 and burying her body in a Baltimore City park. Lee were high school classmates who dated briefly, and police theorized that Syed was jealous and possessive of Lee, leading him to kill her.
However, other suspects were investigated by police, including a different man police believed had a motive to kill Lee who reportedly threatened to Lee’s life while he was speaking to someone else. Police never informed the defense of this testimony. Earlier this year, prosecutors ran new DNA tests on evidence; it’s unknown if those results played into today’s motion.
Citing a violation of Brady protocols in which prosecutors must turn over evidence that might exculpate the defendant as well as evidence implicating new suspects, the Baltimore State’s Attorney moved to throw out Syed’s conviction, though they stopped short of completely exonerating Syed in the murder.
“To be clear, the State is not asserting at this time that Defendant is innocent,” Assistant State’s Attorney Becky Feldman wrote. “However, for all the reasons set forth below, the State no longer has confidence in the integrity of the conviction. The State further contends that it is in the interests of justice and fairness that these convictions be vacated and that Defendant, at a minimum, be afforded a new trial at this time.”