Photo; Innocence Project
In 2000, Adnan Syed, the focus of the podcast “Serial” and HBO’s documentary “The Case Against Adnan Syed” was sentenced to life in prison for the murder of his high school ex-girlfriend Hae Min Lee — a crime he’s always maintained he did not commit. But today, a judge vacated his conviction based on the State’s failure to disclose key exculpatory evidence in his case.
He has finally been released after 23 years behind bars.
Adnan, who is represented by Erica Suter of the University of Baltimore Innocence Project Clinic, was just 18 when he was sentenced to life in prison, and he has maintained his innocence for decades.
The State’s failure to disclose key exculpatory evidence cost Adnan more than 20 years of freedom and is yet another example of how the concealment of evidence — known as a Brady violation — leads to wrongful convictions.
In the last three months, the exonerations of Innocence Project clients Mallory Nicholson, John Galvan, and Herman Williams have all revealed Brady violations that contributed to the conviction and incarceration of innocent people.
