NO PUB orig sp - Adnan Syed's murder conviction reinstated: shock ruling in 'Serial' podcast case

In a shocking twist to what seems to be a neverending saga, Adnan Syed, the teen convicted of his girlfriend Hae Min Lee's 1999 murder and jailed for two decades, only to be freed in October 2022, had his murder conviction reinstated by a Maryland appellate court.

Hae Min Lee's brother, Young Lee, was not given proper notice to attend the hearing of Syed's vocation, thus violating his rights as the victim's representative.

The 2-1 ruling by the appellate court doesn't send Syed back to jail, for now, but it does send him back a few steps. Syed will now present his evidence in a new motion to vacate, where Mr. Lee will be given proper notice of the hearing, according to CNN.com.

CNN.com also reported that Assistant Public Defender Erica Suter, Syed's attorney, stated: "We remain optimistic that justice will be done...and will continue to fight until Adnan's convictions are fully vacated."

Adnan Syed, the subject of the 2014 'Serial' podcast by Sarah Koening, was set free on October 11th, 2022, via a Zoom court hearing when Baltimore prosecutors announced they would be dropping all charges for the 1999 murder of his ex-girlfriend Hae Min Lee, for which he had been serving a life sentence plus 30 years.

Photo: Woodlawn High School Photos, via 'This American Life' and via Wikipedia

City State’s Attorney Marilyn Mosby stated her office received new DNA evidence from Lee's shoes that had not been previously tested, which excluded Syed.

Syed had been on home arrest since his release from prison on September 19th, 2022, when Judge Melissa M. Phinn of the Baltimore County City Circuit Court vacated his conviction.

She found that prosecutors had not turned over evidence and discovered new evidence that could have affected the outcome of his trial.

The case of Adnan Syed received massive media coverage when Sarah Koenig of 'This American Life' chose the topic for the first season of her investigative journalism podcast 'Serial.' The podcast became an overnight sensation, topping charts and breaking records. This podcast also turned the story into a mini-series documentary titled 'The Case Against Adnan Syed,' airing on HBO in 2018.

The 12-episode podcast meticulously questioned everything about the case, digging deep to find the real answers to the big questions. Here is a look back at those tragic events and what has occurred since.

Photo: Magda Ehlers / Pexels

Hae Min Lee had been missing for over a month in early 1999, last seen in mid-January leaving her high school in her car. On February 12th, 1999, it was reported by the Baltimore Sun that a partially buried body located in Leakin Park, Baltimore, MD, had been identified as that of the 18-year-old student.

A Korean American teenager, Hae Min Lee was born in Korea but immigrated to the US at 12 years old, attending Woodlawn High School in Baltimore, MD. Lee was friendly and likable and had been dating off and on. Her last boyfriend, the 17-year-old Adnan Syed. Her death was immediately ruled a homicide upon finding her body, strangled and abandoned in Leakin Park.

Photo: Woodlawn High School Yearbook / Wikipedia

There had been a previous murder of a young woman in the Leakin Park area a year earlier. Still, police ruled out any connection when they received an anonymous phone call claiming that Adnan Syed, her broken-hearted, scorned ex-boyfriend, was responsible for her murder.

Photo: Maarten van den Heuvel / Pexels

Investigating the anonymous tip, police then subpoenaed cell phone records for Adnan Syed's cell phone to map his location on the day of Lee's murder, pinpointing him in the area of her body.

Photo: Furkan İnce / Pexels

Jay Wilds then entered the scene, an acquaintance of Syed; he shocked police in his interview with a statement that he assisted in burying Hae Min Lee's body in Leakin Park after Syed had murdered her.

After Wilds' wild statement of accessory after the fact to the murder by Adnan Syed, he then assisted the police in finding Hae Min Lee's abandoned car, therefore seemingly validating his version of events.

Photo: Erik Mclean/ Pexels

A Pakistani American 17-year-old, Adnan Syed, is of the Muslim faith. He was secretive with his family as a teenager, as he and Lee had kept their relationship hidden from both of their parents since neither family would have approved of it. He was naïve in the investigation, never considering himself a suspect. Some described him as duplicitous.

Photo: Woodlawn High School Yearbook, via 'This American Life'

There were many back and forths over the hours of Lee's final day and who was where, when. The decomposing of Lee's body was also widely disputed, causing many inconsistencies in the actual timeline of events.

With his lack of alibi, anonymous tip, cellphone tower pinpointing his location, association with Lee, statement of Wilds, and other evidence, although wholely circumstantial, Adnan Syed becomes the main suspect in the murder of Hae Min Lee.

Adnan Syed was formally charged with the first-degree murder of Hae Min Lee and arrested on February 28, 1999.

The trial lasted six weeks, and in it, Hae Min Lee's diary revealed insight into Syed's behavior as a 17-year-old boyfriend with possessive behavior. The murder was described as a "crime of passion."

Syed maintained his innocence from the beginning, as the trial detailed the pinging of cell phone towers, dates and times to the second, and twists and turns of characters and high school dramatics. As it plays out in the 'Serial' podcast, it became a web of "he said, she said," and ultimately a true "who dunnit crime story."

The trial lasted a month and a half, but the jury deliberated a mere two hours. And the verdict for the 17-year-old, guilty of murder in the first degree with a life sentence plus 30 years.

Maria Cristina Guiterrez was Adnan Syed's lead attorney during his trial in the murder of Hae Min Lee. In 2001, two years after his conviction, Gutierrez was disbarred by the State of Maryland. Come to find out; she had left out key evidence in Syed's case.

Asia McClain, a former student at Woodlawn High School, came forward with a statement that she had seen Adnan Syed in the school library during the possible hours of Lee's murder. It was a potential alibi for the 17-year-old. However, Gutierrez did not include this in his defense during his trial.

Syed was granted a new trial based on the inefficient counsel of Guiterrez in 2016 by Judge Welch. In 2018 this decision was upheld by the Maryland Court of Special Appeals, but in 2019 it was overturned by the Maryland Court of Appeals, effectively canceling the new trial.

Rabia Chaudry once again assisted her close friend in writing her New York Times bestselling book, 'Adnan's Story: The Search for Truth and Justice After 'Serial'' (2016). She has also co-hosted the podcast 'Undisclosed,' about Syed's case which has further shed light on its details, helping to clear his name and to set Syed free.

Following a new investigation with newly submitted evidence, and the potential of two previously unknown suspects, the decision was vacated again on September 19th, 2022, when Syed was freed from prison to home arrest.

Following new DNA evidence, all charges were dropped against Adnan Syed on October 11th, 2022 with Erica Suter, Syed's lawyer stating that she would be filing exoneration papers "as quickly as possible."

Sarah Koenig was seen at the courthouse as he was being set free on September 19, 2022, and has continued updating her followers on her website regarding his case. As of October 11th, 2022, Koenig states, "Serial won’t be covering Adnan’s case anymore, or the now-unsolved case of Hae Min Lee’s murder...but we’ll be watching and reading and listening."