Adnan Syed calls press conference to claim he has two NEW pieces of information about Hae Min Lee’s murder, a year after serial podcast ‘star’ had his murder conviction dropped
- On Tuesday, Syed sat with his mother and brother at his family’s home for an impromptu news conference – organized without a spokesperson or his lawyer.
- He said he called the conference to mark the one-year anniversary of his release from prison to highlight “two new pieces of information.”
Adnan Syed has called a news conference from his living room in Maryland, a year after his murder conviction was overturned and he was released from prison.
Exactly a year ago, a judge ordered Syed’s release from his life sentence for strangling Hae Min Lee – after serving 23 years – because they could no longer justify keeping him locked up based on new information.
He was tried in 2000 and found guilty of burying the body of his high school sweetheart in a shallow grave in Baltimore’s Leakin Park. His case was popularized by the podcast Serial, with thousands of people around the world captivated by the story.
On Tuesday, Syed sat with his mother and brother at his family’s home in Windsor Mill for an impromptu two-hour news conference – organized without a spokesperson or his lawyer.
He called for an investigation into his case, “to essentially understand how our rights as a family have been violated.”
Adnan Syed called a last-minute press conference from his living room in Maryland, a year after his murder conviction was overturned and he was released from prison
On Tuesday, Syed sat with his mother and brother at his family’s home in Windsor Mill for an impromptu news conference – organized without a spokesperson or his lawyer.
He said he called the conference to mark the one-year anniversary of his release from prison to highlight “two new pieces of information” that he wants the attorney general to be made aware of.
He urged AG Anthony Brown to open an investigation into his case. He alleged there was prosecutorial misconduct, particularly by Kevin Urick and Kathleen Murphy.
Syed said he has always pushed for justice for his “friend” Lee and her family.
“We have the utmost respect and concern for Lee’s younger brother,” Syed told the audience.
He said there is evidence that Urick committed a Brady violation and the AG should investigate him for it.
A representative from the Public Defender’s MD Office said, “Out of respect for our client’s autonomy, Adnan Syed’s legal team is not commenting at this time.”
In March this year, his conviction was reinstated by an appeals court panel and ruled that his sentencing hearing should be heard again.
Hae Min Lee’s brother, who represents the victim in the case, has long argued that he was not given enough time to attend the holiday hearing. The Baltimore city state’s attorney gave him less than one day of work, he claims.
The 42-year-old was serving a life sentence after being convicted in 2000 of strangling Hae Min Lee and burying her body in a shallow grave in Baltimore’s Leakin Park.
Syed was convicted of strangling Lee (with him above at the 1998 junior prom). The two were high school classmates who had been in a relationship. He went to prison for the crime, but in 2022 a judge ruled that keeping him behind bars was no longer justified due to new information
The panel ruled in his favor. The trial court judge did indeed violate Young Lee’s rights in the way he conducted Syed’s vacation hearing. But Syed was still released.
Syed’s sensational release from prison in September 2022 was thanks to the work of Becky Feldman, the head of the District Attorney’s Office’s Sentencing Review Unit.
Feldman began investigating Syed’s case in June 2022 after a new Maryland law allowed prosecutors to change sentences for offenders who were under 18 at the time of their crimes and had served at least 20 years in prison.
Syed met the criteria because he was 17 in 1999 and had been imprisoned since 2000.
