Monday, September 19, 2022

Adnan Syed: Baltimore; (Serial): Bulletin: Prosecutors are expected to vacate his murder conviction and seek release on his own recognizance at a hearing today (September 19, 2022) - after his having served 20 years in prison, The Guardian (Associated Press) reports..."The development comes after Baltimore prosecutors filed a motion on Wednesday saying a lengthy investigation conducted with the defense had uncovered new evidence that could undermine the conviction of Syed. Syed has served more than 20 years in prison for the strangling of his ex-girlfriend Hae Min Lee, who was 18 when she was killed in 1999. Her body was found buried in a Baltimore park. Syed, 42, has maintained his innocence for decades and captured the attention of millions in 2014 when the debut season of the Serial podcast focused on the case and raised doubts about some of the evidence, including cellphone tower data."


PASSAGE OF THE DAY: "Prosecutors said in their motion that they were not asserting that Syed is innocent but they lacked confidence “in the integrity of the conviction” and recommended he be released on his own recognizance or bail. “We believe that keeping Mr Syed detained as we continue to investigate the case with everything that we know now, when we do not have confidence in results of the first trial, would be unjust,” the state’s attorney Marilyn Mosby said. According to a motion filed in the case, Maryland law says prosecutors generally have 30 days after a conviction is vacated to decide whether to drop the charges or to retry the case, the Sun reported."

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STORY: "Adnan Syed in court on Monday to vacate murder conviction in ‘Serial’ case," published by The Guardian (Associated Press)  on September 17, 2022.


SUB-HEADING: "Prosecutors in Baltimore say they lack confidence in ‘integrity of the conviction’ for strangling ex-girlfriend Hae Min Lee in 1999."


GIST: "Adnan Syed has served more than 20 years in prison but prosecutors now recommend that he be released on his own recognizance or bail."


GIST: "A court hearing has been set for Monday in Baltimore to consider a request from prosecutors to vacate the 2000 murder conviction of Adnan Syed, whose case was chronicled in the hit podcast Serial.


Baltimore circuit judge Melissa Phinn scheduled the hearing for 2pm ET, the Baltimore Sun reported.


The development comes after Baltimore prosecutors filed a motion on Wednesday saying a lengthy investigation conducted with the defense had uncovered new evidence that could undermine the conviction of Syed.


Syed has served more than 20 years in prison for the strangling of his ex-girlfriend Hae Min Lee, who was 18 when she was killed in 1999. Her body was found buried in a Baltimore park.


Syed, 42, has maintained his innocence for decades and captured the attention of millions in 2014 when the debut season of the Serial podcast focused on the case and raised doubts about some of the evidence, including cellphone tower data.


Prosecutors said in their motion that they were not asserting that Syed is innocent but they lacked confidence “in the integrity of the conviction” and recommended he be released on his own recognizance or bail.


“We believe that keeping Mr Syed detained as we continue to investigate the case with everything that we know now, when we do not have confidence in results of the first trial, would be unjust,” the state’s attorney Marilyn Mosby said.


According to a motion filed in the case, Maryland law says prosecutors generally have 30 days after a conviction is vacated to decide whether to drop the charges or to retry the case, the Sun reported."

The entire story can be read at: 


https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2022/sep/17/adnan-syed-court-vacate-conviction-serial-case

PUBLISHER'S NOTE: I am monitoring this case/issue/resurce. Keep your eye on the Charles Smith Blog for reports on developments. The Toronto Star, my previous employer for more than twenty incredible years, has put considerable effort into exposing the harm caused by Dr. Charles Smith and his protectors - and into pushing for reform of Ontario's forensic pediatric pathology system. The Star has a "topic"  section which focuses on recent stories related to Dr. Charles Smith. It can be found at: http://www.thestar.com/topic/charlessmith. Information on "The Charles Smith Blog Award"- and its nomination process - can be found at: http://smithforensic.blogspot.com/2011/05/charles-smith-blog-award-nominations.html Please send any comments or information on other cases and issues of interest to the readers of this blog to: hlevy15@gmail.com.  Harold Levy: Publisher: The Charles Smith Blog;


SEE BREAKDOWN OF  SOME OF THE ON-GOING INTERNATIONAL CASES (OUTSIDE OF THE CONTINENTAL USA) THAT I AM FOLLOWING ON THIS BLOG,  AT THE LINK BELOW:  HL:



FINAL WORD:  (Applicable to all of our wrongful conviction cases):  "Whenever there is a wrongful conviction, it exposes errors in our criminal legal system, and we hope that this case — and lessons from it — can prevent future injustices."
Lawyer Radha Natarajan:
Executive Director: New England Innocence Project;

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FINAL, FINAL WORD: "Since its inception, the Innocence Project has pushed the criminal legal system to confront and correct the laws and policies that cause and contribute to wrongful convictions.   They never shied away from the hard cases — the ones involving eyewitness identifications, confessions, and bite marks. Instead, in the course of presenting scientific evidence of innocence, they've exposed the unreliability of evidence that was, for centuries, deemed untouchable." So true!
Christina Swarns: Executive Director: The Innocence Project;
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