The Baltimore prosecutor who decided to throw out the murder case against Adnan Syed, whose case was featured in the hit podcast “Serial,” said an investigation revealed “major red flags” in the initial proceedings.
“Our review of the case quickly turned from making a mere recommendation for release to a reinvestigation into a claim of actual innocence because there were major red flags,” said Baltimore City State’s Attorney Marilyn Mosby on ABC’s “Good Morning America” on Wednesday.
Syed was recently released after spending more than two decades in prison for the 1999 murder of his ex-girlfriend Hae Min Lee.
A Baltimore judge last month tossed out the conviction and prosecutors dropped charges Tuesday.
A new joint investigation between prosecutors and the defense has allegedly uncovered new evidence indicating the potential involvement of two alternative suspects, as well as Brady violations, or evidence improperly withheld.
New DNA evidence, Mosby said, excluded Syed as a suspect.
“This was really the nail in the coffin that assured me, which is why I instructed my prosecutors to dismiss the case yesterday,” Mosby said. She would not say whether the DNA evidence implicated either of the two additional potential suspects.
In 2014, Syed’s case became the subject of the smash-hit first season of “Serial,” a podcast that questioned whether Syed had received a fair trial. Mosby said on “Good Morning America” that she’d never listened to the series.
Syed’s legal team and Baltimore prosecutors have been in a years-long back-and-forth about whether Syed should be granted a new trial.
Mosby said she intends to formally declare Syed’s innocence.