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Tag: Adnan Syed

  • Attorney representing victim’s family in Adnan Syed case reacts to reinstatement of murder conviction – WTOP News

    Attorney representing victim’s family in Adnan Syed case reacts to reinstatement of murder conviction – WTOP News

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    Maryland’s highest court has reinstated Adan Syed’s murder conviction and ordered a new hearing in a lower court in Baltimore that vacated his conviction two years ago.

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    Attorney representing victim’s family in Adnan Syed case reacts to reinstatement of murder conviction

    Maryland’s highest court has reinstated Adan Syed’s murder conviction and ordered a new hearing in a lower court in Baltimore that vacated his conviction two years ago.

    The case gained national attention when it was the topic of the popular “Serial” podcast.

    Syed spent decades in prison, convicted of murder of his ex-girlfriend Hae Min Lee in 1999.

    His murder conviction was vacated and then all charges were dropped in 2022 after prosecutors in Baltimore said there were issues with the evidence in the case.

    Hae Min’s brother, Young Lee, has been fighting ever since, claiming the legal rights of his family were violated as a result of that first hearing.

    David Sanford is the attorney representing Young Lee. He joined WTOP’s Anne Kramer and John Domen to break down the latest development in this legal saga.

    The transcript below has been lightly edited for clarity.

    David Sanford, the attorney representing Young Lee, speaks with WTOP’s Anne Kramer and John Domen about the latest development in the case of Adnan Syed.

    John Domen: What is your reaction to the Maryland Supreme Court ruling? What did your clients have to say about the decision, too?

    David Sanford: Well, we are all delighted. The client is relieved. This case has been around for more than two decades now. We have a murder conviction of Adnan Syed, going back over 20 years. This case has been subjected to appeals up and down, all the way to the Supreme Court of the United States, now to the Maryland Supreme Court. And at the end of the day, this is a victory for victims’ rights. And ultimately, Adnan Syed will have an opportunity to present whatever evidence he has in order to show that the conviction should effectively be overturned.

    Anne Kramer: This ruling was 187 pages long. Can you explain, in the simplest terms for us, the argument that you all made on behalf of Young Lee when it comes to the legal rights for the victim’s family involved in that hearing for Adnan Syed? Because didn’t your client appear virtually for that hearing?

    David Sanford: He did. He appeared virtually. He was given one business day’s notice. He lives in California. The hearing was held, of course, in Maryland, and he was told on a Friday that the hearing would take place on a Monday, and he asked for a one-week extension so that he could make plans to attend, and that motion for an extension was denied by the court. So he did appear, but the court ordered him to appear.

    He was at work at the time, he had 30 minutes to hustle home and appear via Zoom. But most importantly, he wasn’t able to meaningfully participate in the process, because when the hearing started, the judge simply asked, “What do you have to say?” And he had nothing really to say, other than he was shocked to be there, because nothing had been presented in court. There was no evidence ever presented in open court. The public doesn’t know what, if any, evidence exists. We certainly don’t know what, if any, evidence exists that would suggest that Adnan Syed’s conviction should be overturned.

    John Domen: OK, so help us out here. We are obviously not lawyers. We are told, though, that there is a new hearing that’s been scheduled or been ordered by the high court. Is it possible, is it likely even, that hearing will just sort of see the same thing happen all over again and the conviction will be tossed? Or what could happen there?

    David Sanford: Well, we don’t know. So right now, the court has ordered the lower court to take this up. It’s going to be before a different judge, and that judge is going to hold a hearing. It’s going to schedule a hearing, ideally some time in the fall/winter of this year. At that hearing, the prosecutor and the defense will come together and be able to present any evidence that it has to suggest that Adnan Syed should remain a free man and that his conviction should effectively be overturned.

    We don’t believe that evidence exists. We haven’t seen any evidence. We haven’t heard of any evidence. So now, the prosecution and the defense, they will have the burden to produce that evidence, and once they do, we’ll be able to comment on it. And if it shows that Adnan Syed really was unfairly, unjustifiably convicted, we’ll be the first to say that and to argue that Adnan Syed should remain a free man.

    Anne Kramer: David, you made a point to say that this ruling is on the side and will help victims’ families in the future. How will that work? And why do you think that?

    David Sanford: Well, because victims have a right under the Maryland Constitution to be treated with dignity, to be treated with respect and sensitivity, and those things mean something. They’re not empty platitudes. They mean something under the law. And what the Supreme Court has laid out in its 90-page opinion, there’s also a healthy dissent. But in the 90-page majority decision, it lays out what it means to be treated with respect in Maryland, and it’s a great day for victims and victims’ rights.

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  • Adnan Syed’s Murder Conviction On Hold For Now, As Maryland Supreme Court Considers Appeal

    Adnan Syed’s Murder Conviction On Hold For Now, As Maryland Supreme Court Considers Appeal

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    ANNAPOLIS, Md. (AP) — Adnan Syed will not return to jail and his murder conviction is on hold, for now, as Maryland’s Supreme Court decides whether to hear his appeal.

    The state’s highest court issued an order on Thursday that prevents the reinstatement of Syed’s murder conviction by a lower court.

    Syed’s legal case began more than two decades ago, and gained international attention from the hit podcast “Serial.” He regained his freedom in September from a judge after Baltimore prosecutors moved to vacate his conviction, saying they reviewed the case and found alternative suspects as well as unreliable evidence used at trial.

    But the victim’s family said they received insufficient notice to attend the September hearing before the judge in person, which violated their right to be “treated with dignity and respect,” and the state’s intermediate appellate court agreed. In a 2-1 decision in March that was stayed for 60 days, the judges reinstated Syed’s conviction and ordered a redo of the hearing in question.

    With the 60 days nearing an end, Syed’s lawyer, Erica Suter, asked the Supreme Court of Maryland on Wednesday to issue a stay in the case to prevent her client from potentially being incarcerated while the court considers whether to hear an appeal.

    Justice Shirley Watts noted in her order, which was approved with a majority of the court’s seven justices, that the victim’s family and the office of the state’s attorney general have consented to the stay of the lower court’s mandate while the Supreme Court considers whether to hear the appeal and during the pendency of an appeal.

    Suter is asking the court to review several legal issues, including whether former Baltimore State’s Attorney Marilyn Mosby’s decision to dismiss the charges against Syed last year made the family’s court challenge moot.

    Syed, who has always maintained his innocence, was 17 when his high school ex-girlfriend and classmate, Hae Min Lee, was found strangled to death and buried in a makeshift grave in 1999. He was arrested weeks later and ultimately convicted of murder in 2000.

    In Wednesday’s court filing, Syed’s counsel noted he has been employed since December, working as a Program Associate at Georgetown University’s Prisons and Justice Initiative.

    The filing also noted that Syed has been caring for his elderly parents. His father suffers from dementia and his mother has been diagnosed with leukemia.

    “Mr. Syed’s return has meant a better quality of life for his loved ones as he is able to assist with the day-to-day management of his parents’ health, transport them to doctor’s appointments, and generally be of service to them,” the court filing said.

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  • Reinstated conviction of Adnan Syed being reviewed

    Reinstated conviction of Adnan Syed being reviewed

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    Reinstated conviction of Adnan Syed being reviewed – CBS News


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    The Baltimore state’s attorney’s office is reviewing a decision reinstating the murder conviction of Adnan Syed — a man made famous by the “Serial” podcast. Paul Cassell, a law professor for the University of Utah and a former federal judge, joins CBS News to break down the new development in this widely known case.

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  • Maryland court reinstates murder conviction of ‘Serial’ subject Adnan Syed | CNN

    Maryland court reinstates murder conviction of ‘Serial’ subject Adnan Syed | CNN

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    CNN
     — 

    A Maryland appellate court on Tuesday reinstated the conviction of Adnan Syed, the man who spent over two decades behind bars for the 1999 killing of his ex-girlfriend Hae Min Lee and whose murder case was featured in the landmark podcast “Serial.”

    In a 2-1 ruling, the appellate court said the lower court had violated the rights of the victim’s brother, Young Lee, to attend a key September hearing when a judge vacated Syed’s conviction, leading to his release.

    “Because the circuit court violated Mr. Lee’s right to notice of, and his right to attend, the hearing on the State’s motion to vacate … this Court has the power and obligation to remedy those violations, as long we can do so without violating Mr. Syed’s right to be free from double jeopardy,” the court’s opinion said.

    “We remand for a new, legally compliant, and transparent hearing on the motion to vacate, where Mr. Lee is given notice of the hearing that is sufficient to allow him to attend in person, evidence supporting the motion to vacate is presented, and the court states its reasons in support of its decision,” it added.

    The Lee family is “very pleased” with the ruling, their attorney Steve Kelly told “CNN This Morning” Wednesday.

    “We think it really represents a step toward transparency and the rule of law. You can’t have a trial by podcast or a trial by publicity,” Kelly said, contending the proper judicial process was not followed when Syed’s conviction was tossed out.

    “It’s in everyone’s interest, including Mr. Syed’s, to have all the evidence aired publicly,” Kelly said, adding later that the Lee family is “not vengeful.”

    “We want the truth,” he said. “If Adnan Syed is not the guy, then we want him out.”

    David Sanford, another Lee family attorney, similarly told CNN in a statement the family was “delighted” with the court’s decision and the order for a “transparent hearing where the evidence will be presented in open court.”

    Assistant Public Defender Erica Suter, Syed’s attorney and director of the Innocence Project Clinic, said the appellate court reinstated the conviction “not because the Motion to Vacate was erroneous, but because Ms. Lee’s brother did not appear in person at the vacatur hearing.”

    “We agree with the dissenting judge that the appeal is moot and that Mr. Lee’s attendance over Zoom was sufficient,” Suter said in a statement provided to CNN by the Maryland Office of the Public Defender.

    “There is no basis for re-traumatizing Adnan by returning him to the status of a convicted felon. For the time being, Adnan remains a free man,” the attorney said.

    “We remain optimistic that justice will be done,” Suter added. “We intend to seek review in Maryland’s highest court, the Supreme Court of Maryland, and will continue to fight until Adnan’s convictions are fully vacated.”

    The decision to vacate Syed’s conviction came nearly eight years after the podcast dug into the case and raised questions about the conviction and Syed’s legal representation.

    In explaining her decision to vacate, Baltimore City Circuit Judge Melissa Phinn cited material in the state investigation ​that was not properly turned over to defense attorneys, as well as ​the existence of two suspects ​who may have been improperly cleared as part of the investigation.

    Lee’s brother had requested a redo of that hearing, arguing in part he didn’t have enough notice to attend in person. Attorneys for Lee, who was able to watch September’s proceedings by Zoom, previously alleged in court documents that prosecutors and the circuit court that overturned Syed’s conviction had violated the brother’s rights.

    That happened, they allege, by failing to give him adequate notice, withholding evidence from the family and not giving the brother a proper chance to be heard at the proceedings.

    Sanford, the family’s attorney, told Maryland’s appellate court last month that the circuit court and prosecutors “failed repeatedly” ahead of September’s decision to vacate Syed’s conviction.

    “The victim, or victim’s representative … has a right to be heard,” the attorney said.

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  • Adnan Syed Hired By Georgetown’s Prison Reform Initiative

    Adnan Syed Hired By Georgetown’s Prison Reform Initiative

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    ANNAPOLIS, Md. (AP) — Adnan Syed, who was released from a Maryland prison this year after his case was the focus of the true-crime podcast “Serial,” has been hired by Georgetown University as a program associate for the university’s Prisons and Justice Initiative, the university said.

    Syed started working this month for the initiative, which advocates for others in the criminal legal system, the university tweeted Wednesday.

    In his new role, Syed will support Georgetown’s “Making an Exoneree” class, in which students reinvestigate decades-old wrongful convictions, create short documentaries about the cases and work to help bring innocent people home from prison, the university wrote in an online announcement.

    “PJI’s team and programming has so much to gain from Adnan’s experience, insight, and commitment to serving incarcerated people and returning citizens,” the organization tweeted.

    Syed had been one of 25 incarcerated students at Georgetown’s inaugural Bachelor of Liberal Arts program at the Patuxent Institute in Jessup, Maryland, during the year leading up to his release, the university said.

    “To go from prison to being a Georgetown student and then to actually be on campus on a pathway to work for Georgetown at the Prisons and Justice Initiative, it’s a full circle moment,” Syed said in the university’s announcement. “PJI changed my life. It changed my family’s life. Hopefully I can have the same kind of impact on others.”

    Syed, 41, hopes to continue his Georgetown education and eventually go to law school.

    After spending 23 years in prison, he walked out of a Baltimore courthouse in September after a judge overturned his conviction for the 1999 murder of high school student Hae Min Lee, Syed’s ex-girlfriend.

    Baltimore Circuit Court Judge Melissa Phinn ordered his release at the behest of prosecutors who said they had recently uncovered new evidence.

    Prosecutors said a reinvestigation of the case revealed evidence regarding the possible involvement of two alternate suspects. The two suspects may have been involved individually or together, the state’s attorney’s office said.

    The suspects were known persons at the time of the original investigation and were not properly ruled out nor disclosed to the defense, prosecutors said.

    Baltimore State’s Attorney Marilyn Mosby’s office also cited new results from DNA testing that was conducted using a more modern technique than when evidence in the case was first tested. The recent testing excluded Syed as a suspect, prosecutors said.

    Syed always maintained his innocence. His case captured the attention of millions in 2014 when the debut season of “Serial” focused on Lee’s killing and raised doubts about some of the evidence prosecutors had used. The program shattered podcast-streaming and downloading records.

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  • Court rules family’s appeal can advance in ‘Serial’ case

    Court rules family’s appeal can advance in ‘Serial’ case

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    ANNAPOLIS, Md. — An appeal of the court proceedings that freed Adnan Syed from prison filed by the family of the murder victim in the case chronicled in the true-crime podcast “Serial” can move forward, Maryland’s intermediate appellate court ruled Friday.

    The family of Hae Min Lee has contended their rights were violated, because they did not receive enough notice about a September court hearing that resulted in Syed’s murder conviction being overturned. Lee’s family has said it is not seeking to impact Syed’s release from prison in its appeal.

    The Maryland Court of Special Appeals on Friday ordered that the appeal from the family will be considered in February.

    “Hae Min Lee’s family is thrilled with today’s ruling,” said Steve Kelly, an attorney representing the family. “All they are seeking is what the law requires — a full evidentiary hearing in which they can meaningfully participate and one that makes public the relevant evidence.”

    At the September hearing, a Baltimore judge ordered Syed’s release after overturning his conviction for the 1999 murder of Lee, who was Syed’s ex-girlfriend and 18 years old at the time.

    Prosecutors had moved to vacate Syed’s conviction on Sept. 14. That followed a yearlong investigation and was two days after they notified the Lee family.

    Last month, Baltimore prosecutors dropped charges against Syed.

    Syed has always maintained his innocence. His case captured the attention of millions in 2014 when the debut season of “Serial” focused on Lee’s killing and raised doubts about some of the evidence prosecutors had used, inspiring heated debates across dinner tables and water coolers about Syed’s innocence or guilt.

    Prosecutors said a reinvestigation of the case revealed evidence regarding the possible involvement of two other possible suspects. The two suspects may be involved individually or may be involved together, the state’s attorney’s office said.

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  • Prosecutors drop charges against Adnan Syed, subject of

    Prosecutors drop charges against Adnan Syed, subject of

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    Prosecutors dropped charges against Adnan Syed on Tuesday in the 1999 killing of Hae Min Lee, a case that was chronicled in the hit podcast “Serial.” Emily Witty, a spokeswoman for the city of Baltimore’s state’s attorney’s office, said in an email that her office had dropped its case against Syed and would release further details about its decision later Tuesday.

    Laura Nirider, a co-director of the Center on Wrongful Convictions at Northwestern Pritzker School of Law who accompanied Syed when he walked out of prison last month, tweeted: “Breaking news: After the latest round of DNA testing generated results that, like previous rounds of testing, excluded Adnan Syed, he has now been formally exonerated!”

    Erica Suter, a lawyer who has represented Syed in court during his push to be freed, confirmed the charges were dropped to CBS News.

    “Finally, Adnan Syed is able to live as a free man,” Suter said. “The DNA results confirmed what we have already known and what underlies all of the current proceedings: that Adnan is innocent and lost 23 years of his life serving time for a crime he did not commit.”

    A Baltimore judge last month overturned Syed’s murder conviction and ordered him released from prison, where the 41-year-old had spent more than two decades. Circuit Judge Melissa Phinn also gave prosecutors 30 days in which to decide whether to retry Syed or drop the charges.

    Phinn ruled that the state violated its legal obligation to share evidence that could have bolstered Syed’s defense. After his release, Syed was placed on home detention with GPS location monitoring.

    Lee’s family had asked Maryland’s intermediate appellate court to halt the case. Attorney Steve Kelly said Lee’s family is not challenging Syed’s release, but instead wanted the judge to hold another hearing that the family can attend in-person and address the court — Lee’s brother Young Lee appeared via videoconference on short notice during the previous hearing. The attorney did not have an immediate comment Tuesday.

    Last week, state Attorney General Brian Frosh’s office filed court papers supporting the appeal by Lee’s family.

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

    Baltimore City State’s Attorney Marilyn Mosby told CBS Baltimore in September she was waiting on DNA tests before deciding whether to retry Syed.

    “If that DNA comes back inconclusive, I will certify that he’s innocent,” Mosby told the station. “If it comes back to two alternative suspects, I will certify that he’s innocent. If it comes back to Adnan Syed, the state is still in a position to proceed upon the prosecution.”

    Prosecutors have previously said that a reinvestigation of the case revealed evidence regarding the possible involvement of two alternate suspects. The two suspects may have been involved individually or together, the state’s attorney’s office said.

    One of the suspects had threatened Lee, saying “he would make her (Ms. Lee) disappear. He would kill her,” according to a court filing.

    The suspects were known persons at the time of the original investigation and were not properly ruled out nor disclosed to the defense, prosecutors said.

    Prosecutors also said new information revealed that one of the suspects was convicted of attacking a woman in her vehicle, and that one of the suspects was convicted of engaging in serial rape and sexual assault.

    Prosecutors also noted unreliable cellphone data was used during Syed’s court case to corroborate his whereabouts on the day of the crime. The notice on the records specifically advised that the billing locations for incoming calls “would not be considered reliable information for location.”

    Syed served more than 20 years in prison for the strangling of Lee, who was 18 at the time. Her body was found weeks later buried in a Baltimore park.

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  • Maryland AG joins family’s appeal in ‘Serial’ murder case

    Maryland AG joins family’s appeal in ‘Serial’ murder case

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    FILE – Adnan Syed, center right, leaves the courthouse after a hearing on Sept. 19, 2022, in Baltimore. Hae Min Lee’s brother, Young Lee, has asked the Maryland Court of Special Appeals to halt court proceedings for Syed, whose conviction in Lee’s 1999 killing was reversed by Baltimore Circuit Judge Melissa Phinn in September 2022. Now, the office of Maryland’s attorney general is supporting the brother’s appeal. (Jerry Jackson/The Baltimore Sun via AP, File)

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  • ‘Serial’ case: Victim’s family wants to redo Syed hearing

    ‘Serial’ case: Victim’s family wants to redo Syed hearing

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    BALTIMORE — The family of a young woman who was killed in 1999 will appeal a Baltimore judge’s recent order overturning the conviction of Adnan Syed, the man imprisoned for decades for Hae Min Lee’s death, according to an attorney for the family.

    Attorney Steve Kelly said Lee’s family is not challenging Syed’s release, but instead wants the judge to hold another hearing that the family can attend in-person and address the court — Lee’s brother Young Lee appeared via videoconference on short notice during the previous hearing.

    “We’re not challenging the ruling, but asking for the hearing to be redone in accordance with the law,” Kelly told The Associated Press.

    Syed, whose case was examined in the popular true-crime podcast “Serial,” was released earlier this month after prosecutors told a judge they had uncovered doubts about the fairness of the investigation. Syed has always maintained that he never killed Hae Min Lee, his ex-girlfriend.

    On Wednesday, Young Lee filed a notice of appeal, alleging violations of the family’s right to meaningfully participate in the Sept. 19 hearing in which Syed secured his release, according to Kelly. It’s the first step in seeking the Maryland Court of Special Appeals’ review of the potential violations of victim’s rights statutes, Kelly said.

    Syed was serving a life sentence after he was convicted of strangling Lee, whose body was found buried in a Baltimore park. He was 17 at the time of her death.

    Circuit Court Judge Melissa Phinn’s order to release Syed and vacate his murder conviction came after State’s Attorney Marilyn Mosby asked the judge to vacate the conviction, saying a lengthy investigation conducted with the defense had uncovered new evidence that could undermine the conviction.

    During the hearing, Young Lee spoke via videoconference, saying he felt betrayed by prosecutors since he thought the case was settled.

    “This is not a podcast for me. This is real life,” he said.

    Prosecutor Becky Feldman told the judge in the hearing that she contacted Young Lee before the motion was filed, and went over the motion with him. A day before the hearing, Young Lee indicated by text message that he would attend virtually, Feldman said. But that evening the Lee family hired Kelly, who filed a motion to postpone the hearing for seven days so Young Lee could attend in person. Phinn denied that motion, but paused the hearing by more than 30 minutes so that Lee, who was at work, could join the call.

    Kelly said at the time that prosecutors shut the family out of the legal process, calling it “inexcusable” and a violation of Maryland law. The family is interested in the truth and might have supported Syed’s release if they had understood the basis, he said.

    “The family is disappointed with the way that they were treated. They’re disappointed with the process. They want more than anybody to have the person who killed Hae Min Lee brought to justice,” Kelly said. “If that is not Mr. Syed then they’re open to the possibility of anybody else who actually did it being prosecuted.”

    The Office of the Public Defender declined Thursday to comment on the notice of appeal. Syed’s case captured the attention of millions in 2014 when the debut season of “Serial” focused on Lee’s killing and raised doubts about some of the evidence prosecutors had used.

    Mosby, who entered office in 2015, has applauded the judge’s decision and has said investigators are awaiting the results of “DNA analysis” before determining whether to seek a new trial date or throw out the case against Syed and “certify his innocence.”

    State’s Attorney’s Office spokesperson Zy Richardson said in a statement that they empathize with Lee’s family, “who believed they had resolution and are now being re-traumatized by the misdeeds of the prior prosecutors,” but they must ensure that the right person is held accountable, news outlets reported.

    “We refuse to be distracted from this fundamental obligation and will never give up in our fight for the Lee family,” she said.

    Feldman, who led a unit reexamining cases in which juvenile defendants were given life sentences, found notes written by a predecessor describing two phone calls in which people gave them information before Syed’s trial about someone with a motive to harm Lee. That information wasn’t given to the defense at the time, according prosecutors, an omission that Phinn said violated Syed’s rights.

    In a new “Serial” episode released a day after Syed was freed, host Sarah Koenig noted that most or all of the evidence cited in prosecutors’ motion to overturn the conviction was available since 1999. The case against Syed involved “just about every chronic problem” in the system, Koenig said, including unreliable witness testimony and evidence that was never shared with Syed’s defense team.

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