‘Serial’ Subject Adnan Syed Files for Release From Prison

Syed’s conviction was overturned by a Baltimore judge in June

Adnan Syed

“Serial” subject Adnan Syed has filed for release from prison as he awaits a new trial.

According to the Baltimore Sun, Syed’s lawyers filed a petition on Monday that he be released from prison, citing his record of good behavior.

“Syed has been waiting 17 years to get back into court to prove his innocence,” Syed’s attorneys worte in the petition. “With that moment within his grasp, there is no reason to think he would now abscond from justice and risk everything he has accomplished to date.”

Syed, the subject of the wildly popular podcast “Serial” in 2014, was convicted in 2000 for the 1999 slaying of his former high school girlfriend, Hae Min Lee. He has maintained his innocence and through “Serial” convinced many listeners that perhaps an actual “reasonable doubt” existed in his case.

In June, retired Baltimore City Circuit Court Judge Martin P. Welch officially vacated Syed’s conviction and life sentence.

The judge also ruled that he wants to see the recent affidavit and testimony of Asia McClain, an alibi witness who was a key part of the “Serial” revelations, re-transmitted to the Maryland Court of Appeals.

Furthermore, Welch decided that Syed’s previous attorney’s failure to cross-examine the state’s cell tower evidence expert was also found to be flawed and unfair to the then-defendant.

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