CNN
—
The podcast that shed light on Adnan Syed’s case was here on Monday when he was released to house arrest.
“Serial” explored Syed’s conviction for the murder of his high school girlfriend Hae Min Lee. Baltimore City Circuit Court Judge Melissa Phinn overturned her 1999 conviction on Monday.
In 2014, “Serial,” which is hosted by journalist Sarah Koenig, helped propel interest in podcasts and Syed’s special case.
“Serial” explored Syed’s conviction for the murder of his high school girlfriend Hae Min Lee. Baltimore City Circuit Court Judge Melissa Phinn overturned her 1999 conviction on Monday.
In 2014, “Serial,” hosted by journalist Sarah Koenig, helped spark interest in both podcasts and the special case of Syed.
A new episode of “Serial” released Tuesday is about 17 minutes long and features Koenig explaining how Syed got out.
“According to the prosecutor’s office, they did not seek to triage Adnan’s case – their own case, mind you,” Koenig says in the new episode. “They say it sort of fell apart once they took a look at it.”
Syed was serving a life sentence for first degree murder, robbery, kidnapping and forcible confinement.
Items of the state investigation that were not properly turned over to Syed’s defense attorneys and the existence of two suspects who may have been improperly cleared as part of the investigation were cited as grounds for quashing the conviction.
“Adnan’s case was a mess – it’s a mess. That’s pretty much where we were when we stopped reporting in 2014,” Koenig says in a podcast. “Baltimore City Police told the DA’s office they were going to put someone on the case. Someone will try to talk to the two Becky suspects [Feldman, chief of the state’s attorney’s office sentencing review unit] identified in the request. I have no predictions on what might result. But I know the chances of the state trying to prosecute Adnan again are slim at best.
Prosecutors have 30 days to decide whether to pursue a new trial against Syed.