Baltimore prosecutors have dropped all charges against Adnan Syed, the man whose conviction on murder charges was chronicled in the hit podcast Serial.
Syed was released from prison last month when a Baltimore judge vacated his conviction on the recommendation of prosecutors. Ayed served 23 years in prison for the murder of his high-school girlfriend Hae Min Lee.
Today, Emily Witty, a spokeswoman for the Baltimore state’s attorney’s office, confirmed that the case had been dropped.
Last month, state prosecutors filed a motion asking the court to vacate Syed’s 2000 murder conviction, explaining that a year-long investigation conducted with Syed’s defense team uncovered new information “concerning the possible involvement of two alternative suspects,” and, additionally, that the legal parties “have identified significant reliability issues regarding the most critical pieces of evidence at trial.”
Syed’s release from prison last month prompted considerable media attention, including a new, updated episode to the massively popular 2014 Serial podcast. HBO Documentary Films also announced that it was in production on a follow-up episode to its four-part docuseries The Case Against Adnan Syed, directed by Amy Berg. The episode will feature exclusive access to Syed leading up to and following his release from prison. The new HBO episode will debut in 2023.