It took more than just the true crime podcast to free Adnan Syed.
Experts and attorneys involved in the case say that Syed’s story reveals the challenges of trying to address potential injustice in the criminal legal system, how easy it is for people to wrongly spend their lives behind bars, and how public scrutiny can change the course of a case.“The thing about these convictions that are so old is that they die in the dark,” said Erica Suter, Syed’s attorney. “They need light. They need oxygen.
The 23 years between the ruling that incarcerated him and the one that set him free were riddled with setbacks and moments of despair for Syed and his defense team. When Syed’s attorney first filed for a post-conviction relief a decade after the original ruling, his attorney at the time, Justin Brown, said he struggled to reach a woman, Asia McClain, who he believed was an alibi witness who could help free his client.
Suddenly, Syed’s story was everywhere. In group text conversations across the world. On blogs where web sleuths discussed theories. In restaurants and pubs and courtrooms all across Maryland, where Brown said he was suddenly recognized for his association with the man accused of killing Lee.“It opened my eyes to a lot of how the system works,” said Ross Montgomery, a Kansas native who started listening to “Serial” when it debuted and continued to follow the case closely.
Brown asked the court to reopen the post-conviction hearing, citing new information from McClain. A judge agreed, and in 2016, Brown returned to court for a hearing. This time, the room was packed.Still, Syed remained incarcerated for years, as his case cascaded through Maryland’s court system. A judge once granted a new trial, but the state’s highest court ultimately reversed that decision.
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