GIST: "Baltimore City State's Attorney has filed a motion to vacate the conviction for Adnan Syed, a man who was found guilty for the murder of his ex-girlfriend Hae Min Lee back in 1999.
Court documents state Lee was last seen at Woodlawn High School in January, weeks later her body was discovered buried in Leakin Park. Her cause of death was found to be strangulation.
Syed was sentenced to life in prison, but questions were raised in the case about some of the evidence used, after national recognition from the podcast "Serial" in 2014.
Now, after a year long investigation, prosecutors say new evidence is being presented and they are calling for a new trial.
"It's not every day that the prosecutors office is the one that files the motion in the interest of justice and I tip my hat to them for pursuing justice rather for pursuing a conviction here," said Dr. Jeff Kukucka, Professor of Psychology at Towson University.
Doctor Kukucka is a professor of psychology at Towson University, specializing in the study of wrongful convictions.
He says science has progressed significantly in the last 20 years.
"We know a lot more know about the flaws of eyewitness memory, the shortcomings of forensics science than we did back in the late 90's,” said Kukuka.
Syed was 17-years-old when the murder occurred.
Prosecutors are stating that Syed’s conviction was based on one witness's unreliable testimony along with misleading forensic science.
They are now questioning unreliable cell phone tower data and pointing toward two other suspects who they say had motive, one in which threatened to make the victim disappear, material that was never disclosed during the trial.
"A Brady violation basically just means that the prosecution in the case failed to turn over relevant information to the defense so the defense did not have that information available to them," said Kukucka.
Doctor Kukucka says these are some of the most common factors found in wrongful conviction cases and when all three happen at the same time it brings reason to doubt the conviction.
"It really feels like the perfect storm for a wrongful conviction, you have a prosecutorial misconduct in the form of a Brady violation, you have unreliable witness testimony, and you also have flawed or misleading evidence," said Kukucka.
Prosecutors say they are not stating Syed is innocent, he just deserves a fair trial.
Syed is still claiming his innocence.
Back in March, Lee's clothing was tested for “touch DNA” which was unavailable at the time of the trial. No useful results were found.
More samples are still being reviewed."
The entire story can be read at:
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;
