Adnan Syed hearing today – live: Serial podcast’s subject walks out of court to cheers as sentence is vacated

After 23 years in prison, Adnan Syed seems to be enjoying some of the simpler things after his high-profile 1999 murder coniviction was vacated.

Rabia Chaudry, a lawyer and friend of the Syed family, posted a video on Monday afternoon showing the 41-year-old enjoying some leftover dumplings.

A judge has overturned the murder conviction of Adnan Syed, whose legal case was the subject of the hit podcast series Serial. On Monday 19 September, the 41-year-old was released after 23 years behind bars. Syed was convicted in 2000 of first-degree murder, robbery, kidnapping and the imprisonment of his ex-girlfriend Hae Min Lee. Prosecutors had recently requested Syed’s release on the basis that “the state no longer has confidence in the integrity of the conviction”, after an investigation cast doubts about the validity of cellphone tower data and uncovered two alternate unnamed suspects. Syed has always maintained his innocence.

Celebrities who were fans of the podcast or had other ties to the case reacted to the bombshell news on Twitter.

“Case is overturned!!! Adnan Syed is once again presumed innocent in the eyes of the law”, wrote the Pretty in Pink actor Jon Cryer. Amanda Whiting with the full report.

When it comes to the Adnan Syed case, as Clémence Michallon writes in her latest Voices column, not guilty was “the only possible conclusion in 2014, and it remains the only possible conclusion now, eight years later,” given all the holes in the original prosecution.

Read her full piece below.

Adnan Syed said he “can’t believe it’s real” as he walked out of court a free man after a Baltimore judge overturned his conviction for the 1999 murder of his ex-girlfriend Hae Min Lee.

Baltimore City Circuit Judge Melissa Phinn vacated the 41-year-old’s conviction “in the interest of justice” on Monday and granted him a new trial, marking the latest dramatic twist in a case that has captured attention across the globe.

Syed’s shackles were removed and the judge ordered him to be released under home detention while the investigation continues into Lee’s murder.

Minutes later, he was met by a roar of cheers as he walked down the steps of the courthouse and got into a waiting vehicle. Syed smiled and flashed the peace sign at his supporters but declined to make any comments.

Rachel Sharp has more on what the Maryland man said after 23 years in prison.

Adnan Syed walked out of court a free man on Monday, after an almost year-long investigation uncovered new evidence about the possible involvement of two alternative suspects in the 1999 slaying of student Hae Min Lee.

Here’s what we know about the other suspects so far.

One of the key claims used in vacating Adnan Syed’s murder conviction is that prosecutors witheld valuable evidence from his defence, in what’s known as a Brady violation.

You would think, then, that if this could be shown, Mr Syed could sue prosecutors for denying him his full legal rights and 23 years of his life as a result.

Instead, because of an obscure 1976 Supreme Court case called Imbler v Pachtman, prosecutors can’t be sued for deliberately witholding evidence.

At the time, the high court noted that such a ruling would deny the “genuinely wronged” legal remedy, but that this result was worth it because it is “better to leave unredressed the wrongs done by dishonest officers than to subject those who try to do their duty to the constant dread of retalation.” Many government officials enjoy wide immunity from lawsuits.

“It’s one of the most egregious, harmful state abuses of power imaginable, utterly without civil remedy,” civil rights lawyer Hannah Marie noted on Twitter on Monday.

First, Baltimore State Attorney Marilyn Mosby, whose office sought to have Mr Syed’s conviction vacated in the first place, must decide whether to press new charges.

Subsequent investigations have revealed evidence of other suspects wasn’t shared with Mr Syed’s defence, prosecutors said.

That evidence, in addition to ongoing DNA testing on evidentiary materials in the case, will likely weigh on Ms Mosby’s decision.

In the meantime, Mr Syed will remain on home detention with a GPS bracelet monitoring his movements. The Maryland Attorney General’s Office says it stands by its decision to fight Mr Syed’s appeals over the years, and accused Ms Mosby’s effort to vacate the conviction of containing “serious problems.” It also denied committing a so-called Brady Violation, which occurs when officials fail to turn over potentially exculpatory evidence to those accused of crimes. “Neither State’s Attorney Mosby nor anyone from her office bothered to consult with either the Assistant State’s Attorney who prosecuted the case or with anyone in my office regarding these alleged violations,” Maryland Attorney General Brian Frosh told the Baltimore Sun in a statement. “The file in this case was made available on several occasions to the defense.”

Maybe you’ve seen The Thing About Pam, the recent NBC black comedy starring Renee Zellwegger as convicted killer Pam Hupp – and you devoured it in one binge-session. Or maybe you watched it week to week, reading reviews of how much time Zellwegger spent in the makeup chair.

But you probably didn’t know that a detective who worked on the actual Hupp case thought the show was “despicable,” misrepresentative of the case, the witnesses, the investigation, and everything else.

The true crime phenomenon shows no sign of slowing down – as documentaries, podcasts, dramatizations and all manner of content continue to explode across platforms – and the reaction of that Hupp detective is not unusual. Armchair sleuths may spend countless hours poring over the lives of crime victims while concocting their own theories, but family members, investigators, victims themselves and even offenders frequently bristle when they see portrayals of their own lives.

Sheila Flynn has this look at the hidden impacts of America’s true crime obsession.

Adnan Syed is freshly out of prison after spending 23 years behind bars, after his conviction for the 1999 murder of Hae Min Lee, a high school ex-girlfriend, was vacated on Monday.

His journey isn’t over however.

Officials now have 30 days to devide whether to bring new charges against Mr Syed, or the alternative suspects that have been indentified since he was incarcerated.

In the meantime, Mr Syed, 41, is fundraising for his life outside of prison, seeking $50,000 his team says will go towards legal expenses and supporting his re-integration.

Adnan Syed’s story wasn’t always high-profile.

It took Serial, a spinoff from the podcast This American Life, to bring new attention to the case

Clémence Michallon has this look at how an unassuming show played on public radio stations across the US helped shine a new light on a tangled police investigation.