Baltimore prosecutors are seeking to vacate Adnan Syed's conviction for the 1999 murder of his ex-girlfriend Hae Min Lee, a case that gripped the nation when it was featured on the podcast "Serial."
In a motion filed Wednesday in circuit court, the state's attorney for Baltimore City said that an almost yearlong investigation uncovered new evidence, including information about the potential involvement of two other suspects.
While they did not go so far as to declare Syed innocent, prosecutors asked that he be granted a new trial.
"However, for all the reasons set forth below, the State no longer has confidence in the integrity of the conviction," the office of Baltimore State's Attorney Marilyn Mosby said.
Mosby's office is handling the new investigation and recommended that Syed be released pending the ongoing probe.
A native of Baltimore, Syed was convicted in 2000 of strangling Lee and has been serving a life sentence since, according to The Wall Street Journal. At the time of the crime, he was 17 years old but was charged as an adult.
Syed has always maintained his innocence and in 2018 a special appeals court found that he warranted a new trial. The appeals court's decision was later overruled by Maryland's highest court, according to the Journal.
Syed's lawyers requested a new review of the case in March and prosecutors said in Wednesday's filing that there is evidence indicating that two suspects may have been involved. Prosecutors said they were not correctly ruled out during the first investigation.
During their new investigation, prosecutors discovered a document that revealed one of the suspects had motive to kill Lee and had threatened her in front of a witness. According to the court filing, the suspect said "he would make her disappear. He would kill her."
Though prosecutors are required by law to share exculpatory evidence with defense counsel, if requested, that information was never provided to the defense.
The new investigation also revealed that the Baltimore lot where Lee's car was found was located behind a house that belonged to a relative of one of the suspects.
The legitimacy of cell phone records and data — key pieces of evidence for the prosecution in Syed's original trial — as well as crucial witness testimony were also questioned in the filing.
"There is an abundance of issues that gives the State overwhelming cause for concern," prosecutors said.
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