United States: a podcast with worldwide success allows the release of an inmate who has been in prison for 23 years

A journalist's investigation, declined in podcast, made it possible to release Adnan Syed, imprisoned for 23 years. The final decision is awaited.

Sentenced to life imprisonment and detained for 23 years, Adnan Syed may be freed. The decision of an American judge who quashed his conviction goes in this direction, although justice has "not yet declared Adnan Syed innocent". This unprecedented reversal of the situation finds as its main source a podcast, Serial, on the investigation of journalists into the case of Adnan Syed. The team conducted a counter-investigation that revealed a lot of crucial information.

Adnan Syed, 42, was convicted in 2000 of the murder of his former girlfriend, Hae Min Lee, in Baltimore, on the east coast of the United States. He always denied. After a grueling legal battle, Baltimore City District Attorney Marylin Mosby filed a motion to overturn the conviction verdict, citing her doubts about Adnan Syed's guilt. She asked for her release.

The prosecutor claims to have discovered the existence of "two alternative suspects". This information, at the heart of the case, would have been misused and never communicated to the defense during the trial. On September 19, a magistrate confirmed the prosecutor's request. "In the interest of justice and fairness, the motion is granted and the defendant will be released" and fitted with an electronic bracelet, Judge Melissa Phinn said.

An unexpected turnaround

Adnan Syed's hobbles were removed to the applause of the hall. The man showed no reaction: he "now wants to spend time with his family" and "finds it hard to believe that it's true" explains his lawyer, Erica Suter. Indeed, the prosecutor recalls that no final decision has been made. She wants to wait for the result of new DNA analyzes before dropping the charges against him and setting up a new trial.

Produced in 2014 by a team of investigators, the pdocast series "Serial" made it possible to assert that Adnan Syed's lawyer had overlooked a mobile phone expertise favorable to the accused, as well as the testimony of a woman who served as a potential alibi.

After this series, the judicial machine, hitherto stopped, resumes. In March 2018, a Maryland appeals court requested a new trial. In March 2019, the Supreme Court of Maryland breaks this request considering that the "ineffective help" and the information not transmitted by Adnan Syed's lawyer are not enough to change the verdict. In 2019, the Supreme Court of the United States refused to intervene, suggesting the end of the judicial investigation. It was ultimately the Baltimore prosecutor who reopened the case for miscarriages of justice.

The victim's brother lives "a nightmare that never ends"

All these dzvelopments are difficult for the relatives of the victim, Hae Min Lee. His brother explains "living a nightmare that never ends", he feels "cheated" by the prosecutors who had assured to have the culprit before changing his mind 20 years later. The prosecutor, Marylin Mosby promises to continue the investigation "to ensure that the family of Hae Min Lee knows with certainty the culprit".

In February 1999, police found the lifeless body of 18-year-old Hae Min Lee half-buried in a Baltimore woods. Adnan Syed was arrested at the age of 17 and sentenced to life imprisonment the following year. A decision with serious consequences for a man who has always claimed his innocence and who has spent more than half of his life behind bars.

On Monday afternoon, a Baltimore judge vacated Adnan Syed's murder conviction, freeing Syed after 23 years behind bars.

The subject of the groundbreaking 2014 podcast "Serial," Syed was arrested in 1999 at the age of 17 on accusations he murdered his 18-year-old ex-girlfriend, Hae Min Lee. He was convicted of the crime the following year.

Days before his release from prison, Baltimore prosecutors had asked that Syed's conviction be overturned, saying "the State no longer has confidence in the integrity of the conviction," and that after a lengthy investigation, new information was discovered, including "the possible involvement of alternative suspects."

Here is a timeline of Syed's case — including what's next for the now 41-year-old man.

After keeping their romance a secret due to religious and cultural differences, Hae Min Lee, 18, and Adnan Syed, 17, who were classmates at Woodlawn High School in Baltimore, break up. Both attended the magnet program at Woodlawn, for high-achieving students.

Lee was born in South Korea in 1980 and came to the United States in 1992 along with her mother and brother. At Woodlawn, she played lacrosse and field hockey.

Judge Orders Release of Adnan Syed as Murder Conviction of 'Serial' Subject Is Vacated

1999: Lee Vanishes; Her Body Is Found 27 Days Later

She was found dead 27 days later — her body partially buried in a park. Police said at the time Lee was strangled to death.

Her ex-boyfriend, Syed, was arrested in connection with her death and disappearance. He pleaded not guilty and has maintained his innocence to this day.

2000: Syed Is Convicted

At trial, Jay Wilds, a friend of Syed's, testified against him, and claimed the pair buried Lee in the park where she was found.

Cell phone data also placed Syed in the area, prosecutors said — although that data would later be called into question.

Syed was found guilty of murder, false imprisonment, kidnapping, and robbery. He was sentenced to life in prison.

2014: 'Serial' Podcast Unearths New Evidence

More than 15 years after Lee's killing, the "Serial" podcast reexamined the case and revealed a key alibi witness who did not testify on Syed's behalf.

Asia McClain, who now goes by Asia Chapman, claimed she was with Syed at the library at the time Lee was killed.

Read PEOPLE's 2018 Article on Twists in Adnan Syed's Murder Case

While McClain offered to testify, Syed's attorney Maria Cristina Gutierrez, who has since passed away, did not call her.

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The podcast also questioned the credibility of the cell phone data used against Syed, and revealed that DNA found at the crime scene was never tested.

Millions of people tuned in to the podcast, thrusting the case back into the spotlight and pressuring authorities to reexamine the facts.

2015: Maryland Court Agrees to Hear Syed's Appeal

In February 2015, following the success of "Serial" and the scrutiny it drew to the case, a Maryland court agreed to review Syed's conviction.

In November of that year, a Baltimore judge issued an order that would allow Syed to present new evidence, including the testimony of McClain, Syed's alibi witness.

2016: Syed's Conviction Vacated for the First Time

In June 2016, Judge Martin P. Welch overturned Syed's conviction and granted him a new trial.

'Serial' Victim Hae Min Lee's Family Says New Hearing Has 'Reopened Wounds Few Can Imagine'

Syed's attorney, C. Justin Brown, argued that Gutierrez's failure to call McClain showed that she mishandled the case. Brown also argued that cell tower data that placed in the park where Lee's body was found, and that was used to convict Syed, was unreliable — and that the prosecution failed to disclose evidence which would have called the data's reliability into question.

However, even after Judge Welch's ruling, Syed remained incarcerated as the state appealed the ruling and the case wound its way through the courts.

Baltimore Prosecutors File Motion to Vacate Murder Conviction of Adnan Syed, Ask For New Trial

At a news conference after the judge's order, Brown said, "We made a lot of progress, but we are not there."

At the time, Lee's family issued a statement expressing their continued belief in Syed's guilt.

"We continue to grieve," the family said in a statement. "We continue to believe justice was done when Mr. Syed was convicted of killing Hae."

2018: Ruling to Vacate Syed's Conviction Upheld by Appeals Court

In March 2018, an appeals court upheld Judge Welch's 2016 decision to vacate Syed's conviction and grant him a new trial.

In the Court of Special Appeals Opinion, Chief Judge Patrick L. Woodward wrote that a "deficient performance" by Gutierrez — her failure to call McClain — "prejudiced Syed's defense."

Evidence in Hae Min Lee's Murder Case Will Be Tested for DNA at Request of Adnan Syed and State Prosecutors

Woodward wrote that "there is a reasonable probability that McClain's alibi testimony would have raised a reasonable doubt in the mind of at least one juror about Syed's involvement [in] Hae's murder, and thus 'the result of the proceedings would have been different.' "

2019: Setback for Syed: Maryland's Highest Court Upholds Conviction

Syed suffered a setback in March 2019, when Maryland's highest court, the Court of Appeals, ruled in a 4-3 decision to uphold his conviction.

The court agreed that Syed's counsel during his murder trial had been inadequate, but they held that Syed was not "prejudiced" by his poor counsel, according to the ruling.

In a statement after the ruling, Brian E. Frosh, Maryland's attorney general, said, "Justice was done for Hae Min Lee and her family."

In November 2019, the United States Supreme Court declined to hear Syed's case.

RELATED VIDEO: Judge Orders Release of Adnan Syed as Murder Conviction of 'Serial' Subject Is Vacated

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