A US prosecutor on Wednesday called for overturning the conviction of a man who was held for more than 20 years for the murder of his ex-girlfriend, which he always denied, an unexpected turn in a case at the center of the successful podcast. ” Serial”.
The US East Coast City of Baltimore Prosecutor’s Office said they doubted the guilt of 42-year-old Adnan Syed after discovering the existence of “two alternative suspects,” his reports said in a press release.
In an appeal sent to a magistrate who will have the last word, Marilyn Mosby also asked for the release of the condemned man. “Keeping Mr. Syed in detention while we continue our investigation, when we no longer have faith in the conclusions of the first trial, would be unfair,” she said.
This surgery revives the case opened in 1999 when the body of Hae Min Lee, an 18-year-old girl, was found half-buried in a wood in Baltimore.
A year later, her ex-boyfriend Adnan Syed was sentenced to life in prison. According to the indictment, he had not claimed that she had left him for someone else and strangled her. She has always claimed her innocence by claiming to be the victim of anti-Muslim prejudices.
In 2014 a team of journalists conducted a counter-investigation, told in twelve episodes of the first season of “Serial”. Forerunner of the podcast era, this radio soap opera, according to its producers, has been downloaded more than 300 million times. It also inspired an HBO documentary.
The investigation by serial reporters showed that Adnan Syed’s lawyer had overlooked a mobile phone report favorable to the defendant, as well as the testimony of a young girl offering him a potential alibi.
Their work led to the case being reopened, and in March 2018 a Maryland appeals court ordered a retrial, believing the attorney had provided “ineffective assistance” to his client.
In March 2019, the Maryland Supreme Court acknowledged that the lawyer was wrong not to present certain elements, but estimated that “given the totality of the evidence”, the verdict would have been no different if he had included them. He therefore refused to organize a retrial.
Adnan Syed’s defense then went to the Supreme Court. In 2019 she refused to intervene, which seemed to put an end to her hopes of her release.
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