Adnan Syed Case Prosecutors Seek New Trial On Serial Podcast Subject.

  Baltimore prosecutors filed a motion Wednesday seeking a new trial for Adnan Syed, whose case was the subject of the wildly popular first season of the “Serial” podcast.   

  A statement from the state attorney general’s office cited recently discovered evidence.   

  “After a nearly year-long investigation examining the facts of this case, Said deserves a new trial where he will be adequately represented and the most recent evidence can be presented,” Baltimore State’s Attorney Marilyn Mosby said in a statement.   

  Syed is serving a life sentence after being convicted of first-degree murder, robbery, kidnapping and false imprisonment in the February 2000 murder of his ex-girlfriend, Hae Min Lee.  He has maintained his innocence and has been appealing his convictions for years.   

  “As administrators of the court, we have an obligation to uphold trust in the integrity of convictions and to do our part to correct when this standard has been included,” Mosby said.  “We have spoken with Ms. Hae Min Lee’s family and (they) fully understand that the person responsible for this heinous crime must be held accountable.”   

  The state will request that Said be released on his own recognizance pending the investigation if the motion to vacate his conviction is granted.   

  “We believe that detaining Mr. Said as we continue to investigate the case with everything we know now, when we have no confidence in the results of the first trial, would be unfair,” Mosby said.   

  The new investigation revealed evidence “regarding the possible involvement of two alternative suspects in addition to Syed,” the statement said.   

  “The two suspects may be involved individually or may be involved together,” the statement said.   

  Adnan and Lee were seniors at Woodlawn High School in Baltimore County in January 1999 when she disappeared.  Her strangled body was discovered in a city forest three weeks later.   

  Mosby said prosecutors “are not arguing, at this time, that Mr. Said is innocent,” but that the state “has no confidence in the integrity of the conviction” and that Said should be given a new trial.   

  Said and prosecutors filed a joint motion for post-conviction DNA testing, saying that since the crime occurred more than two decades ago, “DNA testing has changed and improved dramatically.”   

  The March motion called for the victim’s clothing to be tested for contact DNA, which was not available at the time of trial.  The items being tested now had not been previously tested in 2018 — when the Baltimore City Police Laboratory tested various items for DNA — with the exception of the victim’s fingernail clippings, Mosby’s statement said.   

  Mosby said the motion to vacate was filed with the head of the Sentencing Review Unit (SRU) Becky Feldman.  Syed was a minor when he was convicted.   

  The suspects were known persons at the time of the initial investigation “and were not properly excluded or disclosed to the defense,” according to Mosby’s statement.   

  The state is not releasing the names of the suspects, but said that, according to the trial file, one of them said, “He was going to [Ms. Lee] disappear.  He would kill her.”   

  The investigation also revealed a suspect was convicted of striking a woman with her vehicle, according to the release.  The second suspect was convicted of engaging in serial rape and sexual assault, the statement said.   

  Some of the information was available during the trial, the statement said, and some came to light later.  It is unclear when these attacks took place.   

  Lee’s car was located “directly behind the home of one of the suspect’s family members,” the statement said.   

  Syed’s lawyers brought the case to the SRU’s attention in April 2021.   

  Syed’s attorneys “identified significant credibility issues regarding the most critical evidence at trial,” Mosby’s statement said.   

  In the 2019 HBO documentary “The Case Against Adnan Syed,” a lawyer for Syed said his client’s DNA was not found in any of the 12 samples recovered from the victim’s body and car.  This test was not part of the official investigation by the authorities.  HBO, like CNN, is a unit of Warner Bros.  Discovery.   

  At trial, prosecutors relied on the testimony of a friend, Jay Wilds, who said he helped Syed dig a hole for Lee’s body.  To corroborate his account, prosecutors presented cell phone records and expert testimony to place Syed at the site where Lee was buried.