Reports that Adnan Syed was convicted by a Baltimore judge. . For the 1999 murder of Hae Min Lee, his ex-girlfriend, the 41-year-old was serving a life sentence. His case attracted international attention after being documented by former Baltimore SunSarah Koenig, reporter for the podcast’s first season Serial.
Koenig spent more than a year investigating the specifics of Syed’s case, focusing in particular on the conduct of his lawyer, Cristina Gutierrez. In 2019, Maryland’s highest court found Gutierrez had failed to properly investigate an alibi witness but voted against granting Syed’s request for a retrial. However, prosecutors recently recommended that a judge grant him a new trial, noting the state had lost “confidence in the integrity of the conviction.” With Monday’s decision, the state has 30 days to decide whether to move forward with a new trial or drop the case entirely.
“This is not a podcast for me,” , the brother of Hae Min Lee, during Monday’s hearing. He said his family felt “betrayed” and “blindsided” by the state’s motion to vacate Syed’s conviction. “Whenever I think it’s over, and it’s ended, it always comes back,” he added.
After the decision was made, Serial AnnouncedThe new episode would be aired on Tuesday morning. It has been a huge success in the years that have followed its first season. SerialA series of spinoffs has been produced, including . More broadly, it’s safe to say the true crime genre and podcasting more generally have never been more popular – even if the series was never quite able to replicate the success of its first season.
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