US prosecutors drop all charges against Serial podcast subject Adnan Syed

By Michael Hernandez

WASHINGTON (AA) - Prosecutors in the US city of Baltimore announced on Tuesday that they have dropped all charges against Adnan Syed, the man at the center of hit podcast Serial.

Marilyn Mosby, the State's Attorney for Baltimore City, said the decision to drop the charges was based on new DNA evidence, and new information that has come to light supporting alternative suspects in the 1999 murder of Syed's ex-girlfriend Hae Min Lee.

"The fundaments of the criminal justice system should be based on fair and just prosecution and the crux of the matter is that we are standing here today because that wasn’t done 23 years ago," Mosby said in a statement.

"Although, my administration was not responsible for neither the pain inflicted upon Hae Min Lee’s family nor the wrongful conviction of Mr. Syed, as a representative of the institution, it is my responsibility to acknowledge and apologize to the family of Hae Min Lee and Adnan Syed," she added.

Baltimore Circuit Judge Melissa Phinn threw out last month Syed's conviction in Lee's murder, setting in motion a 30-day window to schedule a new trial or drop the murder charge.

Phinn said her decision was based on the grounds that the state had failed to share exculpatory evidence -- known as a Brady violation -- that could have helped his defense at trial.

Laura Nirider, the co-director, of the Center on Wrongful Convictions non-profit legal group, said that the charges are being dropped based on another tranche of DNA testing confirming that Syed is not the individual who killed Lee.

"After the latest round of DNA testing generated results that, like previous rounds of testing, excluded Adnan Syed, he has now been formally exonerated!" she said on Twitter.

Syed served 23 years behind bars after originally being sentenced to life in prison for Lee's murder. He can now pursue compensation under state law.