Adnan Syed released and all charges dropped

[gldnone913]

@FreshAIG

 

[Formerly Black Trash]

@FreshAIG

Insanity

 

[FAH1223]

Adnan is still free for now.

 

[Thavoiceofthevoiceless]

They should have done it right the first time and avoided the court ruling altogether.

I don’t have an issue with it as people have been overlooking how the family has felt this entire situation with turning it into a spectacle and dissecting the case with all these insane theories about what they think happened.

 

[FAH1223]

Rabia says she would petition this to SCOTUS if she was Adnan’s attorney. The precedent of re-convicting someone is bad law according to her. Plus she says he’s been out for two years, working a job at Georgetown University, taking care of his family so he has more to offer a court or parole board.

 

[FAH1223]

In a ruling that is 187 pages and has 2 dissents, the Supreme Court of Maryland remanded the Adnan Syed Case to Circuit court for a re-do of the Motion to Vacate his convictions. This is the second 4-3 ruling by Maryland's highest court to go against Adnan Syed in this case, coming on the heels of a 4-3 ruling denying him relief based on his trial attorney's failure to contact alibi witness Asia McClain. So, where do we stand with the case? This post will break things down.

Back in September 2022, after a year-long investigation, the State's Attorney for Baltimore City filed a Motion to Vacate Adnan Syed's convictions in connection with the murder of Hae Min Lee. That Motion to Vacate was based upon a Brady violation by the prosecution at the time of Adnan's initial trials back in 1999/2000. That Brady violation involved the failure of the trial prosecutors to turn over evidence that an alternate suspect with motive, means, and opportunity to kill Hae Min Lee said he would kill Hae and make her disappear. As the Motion noted, this first alternate suspect also engaged in serial rape and sexual assault against other victims.

The Motion was buttressed by other evidence of the weakness of the case against Adnan and the strength of the case against a second alternate suspect. This can be summarized as follows:

-After the murder, Hae's car was found stashed at a location that (a) was known by the second alternate suspect; (b) a person related to the alternate suspect's family owned a house on the block where Hae's car was found; and (c) this person lived there in 1999 (when the murder occurred);
-The second alternate suspect attacked a woman in her vehicle without provocation or excuse;
-The second alternate suspect was improperly cleared as a suspect;
-The State cannot rely upon the critical incoming cell tower pings from Adnan's cell phone record due to the AT&T disclaimer and the evidence adduced at Adnan's reopened PCR proceeding;
-New, documentary evidence has surfaced that Kristina Vinson (a/k/a Not Her Real Name Cathy) was remembering the wrong day when she testified that Adnan and Jay came to her place, i.e., was remembering a day other than January 13th (the day Hae disappeared);
-Jennifer Pusateri also didn't have independent recollection that the events she was recalling occurred on January 13th;
-The testimony of Jay Wilds alone was insufficient to support Adnan's conviction, given his constantly changing and bizarre stories; and
-In the Malcolm Bryant, it was alleged that Detective Ritz, one of the lead detectives in Adnan's case, both failed to disclose and fabricated critical evidence.

Days after giving notice to Hae's brother Young, a hearing on the Motion to Vacate was held. Young was able to attend via Zoom and address the court, but he was unable to attend in person. Subsequently, in October 2022, the State's Attorney entered a nolle pros, dropping the case against Adnan Syed after DNA testing on Hae's shoes excluded Adnan as a source of the DNA mixture recovered from her shoes.

This was then followed by factual and legal developments. Factually, trial prosecutor Kevin Urick came forward and said that, in the note about Alternate Suspect #1 that was not turned over to the defense ("He told her that he would make her disappear; he would kill her."), "he" referred to Adnan. In turn, the witness who spoke to Urick during the phone call that led to Urick writing this note has drafted an affidavit stating that "he" refers to Alternate Suspect #1 and not Adnan.

Legally, an appeal was launched, claiming, inter alia, that Hae's family was not given reasonable notice about the hearing on the Motion to Vacate, that they had the right to attend in-person as opposed to virtually, and that they had the right to be heard on the merits of the Motion. In today's ruling, the Supreme Court of Maryland ruled against Adnan on all three issues in a 4-3 ruling. Specifically, the court ruled that (1) the notice given to Hae's family was not reasonable; (2) Hae's family had the right to attend in person; and (3) Hae's family has the right to be heard on the merits of the Motion. Out of the three rulings, the third one seems the most egregious and unprecedented, doing real damage to the innocence movement and cases in which the State and defense agree there was a wrongful conviction.

As a result of its ruling, the state supreme court remanded the case back to Circuit Court to hold a new hearing on the Motion to Vacate. The court also assigned the case to a new judge. There is also a new State's Attorney for Baltimore City, Ivan Bates, who spoke favorably about Adnan and his case in the HBO documentary. It is unclear whether Bates or someone else in his office will handle the case.

Overall, this is another "justice delayed" setback for Adnan in a case that has no shortage of them. On the other hand, the Brady violation is so clear cut and egregious in this case that the result of he re-do should again be the charges being dropped against Adnan and a new nolle pross entered. Then again, with this case, we've seen so many results out of left field that it's impossible to say anything with certainty.