Lawyer: Prosecutors dropped charges in ‘Serial’ podcast case

ANNAPOLIS, Md. (AP) — Prosecutors have dropped charges against Adnan Syed in the 1999 killing of Hae Min Lee, a case that was chronicled in the first season of the hit podcast “Serial,” according to a lawyer affiliated with Syed’s case. Laura Nirider, a co-director of the Center on Wrongful Convictions at Northwestern Pritzker School of Law, tweeted Tuesday (Oct. 11, 2022) that Syed has been formally exonerated. Prosecutors didn’t immediately reply to phone messages and emails seeking comment. Syed served more than 20 years in prison for the strangling of his ex-girlfriend, Lee, who was 18 at the time. The “Serial” podcast’s focus on the case revealed little-known evidence and attracted millions of listeners, shattering podcast-streaming and downloading records.