'Serial' podcast subject Adnan Syed asks for release from prison
BALTIMORE _ Adnan Syed, the "Serial" podcast subject whose murder conviction was overturned this summer, is asking for a judge to grant his release as he awaits a new trial.
The petition filed Monday by his defense team says Syed would be no danger to the community and that they have a social worker lined up to help him transition out of prison, where he has spent the past 17 years without any behavior problems. It also points to the "crumbling" case against him and raises new accusations about his former co-defendant, Jay Wilds, who was a key witness against him at trial.
"Syed has been waiting 17 years to get back into court to prove his innocence," his attorneys write. "With that moment within his grasp, there is no reason to think he would now abscond from justice and risk everything he has accomplished to date."
After failed attempts to overturn his conviction, the case became the subject of the blockbuster "Serial" podcast, which raised questions about the case against him.
It is rare for someone facing a violent crime punishable by life in prison to be released pending trial. But Syed's attorneys say it is allowed under the law, and that Syed is a good candidate for such an exception.
Syed was convicted by a Baltimore jury in 2000 of killing ex-girlfriend and Woodlawn High School classmate Hae Min Lee, whose body was found buried in Leakin Park. After years of appeals and following the success of "Serial," Syed's attorneys successfully argued to a city judge that questions over key evidence should prompt a new trial.
The state is appealing, a process the defense says could take years.
Prior to his arrest, Syed had no history of violence, and has been a model inmate while locked up in a maximum security prison over the past 17 years, his attorneys say.
"Prisons are among the most violent places in our society, yet Syed has not been cited for a single violent act in 17 years in that environment," his attorneys write.
Department of Corrections records refer to him as an "excellent" worker who "requires minimal supervision" and is "always very respectful to staff." In 2009, he was caught with a contraband cell phone, but has never been cited for a fight or insubordination, they say.
In deciding whether to grant bail, the court takes into consideration whether a defendant is a flight risk _ something that is not a concern in Syed's case, his attorneys say.
_The Baltimore Sun
