Adnan Syed case - live: DNA results loom as state faces deadline to retry Serial podcast subject for murder - The Independent

Follow updates on the case of Serial podcast subject Adnan Syed.

Serial, the podcast which propelled the case to global attention and first raised doubts about Mr Syed’s conviction, released a new episde on Tuesday revealing what finally led Baltimore prosecutors to rethink the 41-year-old’s conviction for the 1999 murder of his former girlfriend Hae Min Lee.

In the episode, journalist Sarah Koenig said that “messy” notes which languished in statet trial boxes for more than two decades revealed that two different people had placed two separate phone calls alerting prosecutors to the unnamed suspect prior to Syed’s 2000 conviction.

Adnan Syed case: Timeline of murder of Hae Min Lee and legal battle of the Serial podcast subject?

With Adnan Syed’s conviction now quashed, questions remain around what happens next.

Prominent attorney Duncan Levin tellsThe Independent he thinks this marks the ‘end of the road’ for Adnan Syed’s two-decade long legal battle.

The family also criticised the prosecution for the lack of notice they gave that they planned to have Adnan Syed’s sentence overturned.

Syed’s conviction.

Serial host Sarah Koenig has said that Adnan Syed’s case contains almost all the issues with the US’s criminal justice system.

“But what we were pointing out in our story was that the timeline of the case and the evidence in the case had serious problems.

Ms Koenig went on to list off the various systemic issues which played out in the 2000 case, which she said are far from unique to Syed’s case.

“Questionable interrogation tactics and tunnel vision by police; an overtaxed system that fails to properly interrogate evidence; prosecutors withholding evidence from the defense; our country’s tolerance for insanely long prison sentences; juveniles treated as adults when science tells us they aren’t; racism; how grindingly difficult it is to get the system to take another look at your case once you’ve been convicted; prosecutors and cops who don’t police themselves and then double down when they’re accused of doing something wrong,” she said?

So far, prosecutors have stopped short of exonerating Syed, saying their request to overturn his conviction – and the subsequent judge’s ruling – does not mean a declaration of innocence but that “in the interest of fairness and justice, he is entitled to a new trial”.

Serial host Sarah Koenig has said that the vacation of Adnan Syed’s conviction is “deja vu” for the defence who have argued there were flaws in the case for years.

Ms Koenig, who propelled the case to global attention through her podcast series, said that the “bombshell” new revelation came from the details that the state had failed to hand over information about another potential suspect back during the original case.

Maryland Attorney General Brian Frosh has pushed back against the argument that there were Brady violations in the case of Adnan Syed.

Baltimore State’s Attorney Marilyn Mosby said that prosecutors withheld information about two other potential suspects from Syed’s defence team at his 2000 trial.

Based on that, she said that his conviction should be overturned, pending the possibility of a new trial.

“Neither State’s Attorney Mosby nor anyone from her office bothered to consult with either the assistant state’s attorney who prosecuted the case or with anyone in my office regarding these alleged violations.

A family friend of Adnan Syed has joked that the 41-year-old is not “looking to hook up” with the influx of “thirsty” ladies who have reached out following his bombshell release from prison.

Adnan Syed walked out of court a free man on Monday, after an almost year-long investigation uncovered new evidence about the possible involvement of two alternative suspects in the 1999 slaying of student Hae Min Lee?

On Wednesday – after more than two decades behind bars where Syed has continued to maintain his innocence of any involvement – Baltimore City State’s Attorney Marilyn Mosby filed a motion to throw out his conviction.

Serial host Sarah Koenig has said that she “did not see it coming at all” when prosecutors made the bombshell announcement last week that they were calling for Adnan Syed’s release.

Ms Koenig launched the podcast in 2014, after being contacted by Syed’s family friend and attorney Rabia Chaudry

The podcast series propelled the case to international attention and raised serious doubts about Syed’s conviction, as one of the pioneers of the true crime phenomenon