Baltimore Prosecutors drop charges, Adnan Syed is free

by Aysha Qamar

After 23-years of serving time for a crime he said he didn’t commit, Adnan Syed, the man whose legal case made international headlines because of the hit podcast “Serial,” is finally free. According to the Baltimore Sun, Baltimore prosecutors dropped Syed’s criminal case in connection to the 1999 killing of Hae Min Lee on Tuesday after DNA test results did not match that of Syed.

While Syed’s conviction was overturned last month, prosecutors had until Oct. 18 to decide whether or not to retry him for the murder, kidnapping, and robbery charges against him or drop them. Baltimore State’s Attorney Marilyn Mosby’s office noted Tuesday that the decision to drop the charges against Syed was based on never-before-tested DNA from Lee’s shoes.

“Finally, Adnan Syed is able to live as a free man,”  Erica Suter, Syed’s attorney, said in a statement according to the Associated Press.

“Today’s the day that Adnan Syed and his loved ones have been waiting for 23 long years,” Suter added. “The results of the DNA testing excluded Adnan and confirm what Adnan and his supporters have always known: that Adnan Syed is innocent. The state of Maryland has dropped the charges. Adnan Syed is free.”

The DNA results come after a yearlong investigation in which, attorneys from the Innocence Project Clinic at the University of Baltimore School of Law and city prosecutors discovered two people they now consider alternative suspectsin Lee’s death.

While both suspects were known to the authorities from the start, at least one was not disclosed to Syed’s defense.

“As the administrator of the criminal justice system, it’s my duty to ensure that justice is not delayed, justice is never denied, but justice be done,” Mosby said when announcing prosecutors’ decision to drop the case .

At this time the other two suspects have not been identified publicly. Outside of disclosing that homicide prosecutor Michael Dunty is assigned to the case, Mosby said she could not discuss any other details.

“We will continue to utilize every available resource to prosecute whoever is responsible for the death of Hae Min Lee,” Mosby said.

Last month when Mosby’s office urged to vacate Syed’s conviction, she said that her decision on whether or not to go ahead with charges was on pending DNA. Due to newly introduced evidence, the prosecutor said they lost faith in his guilty verdict. As a result Syed’d conviction was dismissed by Baltimore Circuit Judge Melissa Phinn and he went home for the first time in 23 years on Sept. 19.