Part 3

In 2016, Mr. Syed's defense argued negligence in his original trial. In 2018, Maryland's Court of Special Appeals granted him a new trial, but it was denied in 2019. Finally, in 2023, his conviction was overturned due to new DNA evidence. The charges were dropped, but a year later, the conviction was reinstated because the lower court violated the rights of the victim's family. In 2016, Mr. Syed's defense team argued that his original defense had been negligent due to the testimony of Ms. McClain, the alibi witness. Also, as for the original lawyer, had not been questioned the reliability of the cell phone tower records. In 2018, Mr. Syed went another appeal. The Maryland Court of Special Appeals upheld the decision to grant Mr. Syed a new trial and vacated his conviction, agreeing that he had received ineffective legal counsel, but he remained incarcerated. Now, a year after in 2019, Maryland's highest court denies the new trial. Maryland's highest court of appeals ruled in a 4-3 decision that while the original defense lawyer had been deficient, Mr. Syed was not prejudiced by the deficiency. It denied him a new trial and reinstated his conviction. It is not until three years later that the conviction is finally overturned. Prosecutors agreed to a new DNA testing, saying that it was necessary. A new Maryland law gave prosecutors the discretion to modify the sentences of offenders who basically were under 18 at the time of their crimes and had served at least 20 years in prison. So that fits perfectly for Adnan. He was 17 and then he spent more than 20 years in prison. Exactly. And then on September 14th, prosecutors asked the judge to overturn Mr. Syed's conviction. They said that an investigation had undercovered the potential involvement of two alternative suspects, key evidence that prosecutors might have failed to provide to Mr. Syed's lawyers, and significant reliability issues regarding the most critical pieces of evidence presented at trial. No way. And on September 19th, the judge of Baltimore vacated the conviction in the interest of judge and fairness. And at 41, Mr. Syed walked out of prison and served home detention while awaiting a word on whether prosecutors would proceed with a new trial or not. And then charges were dropped. Exactly. Prosecutors dropped the charges against Syed on October 11th. The Maryland Office of Public Defender said that the charges were dropped because the DNA evidence excluded Mr. Syed. A year later, the conviction is reinstated. The court of Maryland reinstated Mr. Syed's murder conviction on March 28th of 2023, saying that the lower court violated the rights of Ms. Lee's family of being notified to attend the hearing of September when the charges were dropped, and ruled it as unfair.