Month: September 2022

On Monday a judge ordered the release of Adnan Syed, the Baltimore man serving a life sentence for a 1999 murder he says he did not commit, after overturning his conviction. Syed’s case was chronicled in the popular podcast “Serial.” The 42-year-old Syed was released to home confinement after serving more than 20 years in prison.  Baltimore Circuit Court Judge Melissa Phinn said she overturned his conviction “in the interest of justice.”  Prosecutors have not yet said whether they will seek a new trial or drop the charges against him. Phinn gave the state 30 days to decide which course to pursue.

Syed had been convicted in the killing of his former high school girlfriend, Hae Min Lee, whose body was found buried in a Baltimore park. Prosecutors cited a lack of confidence “in the integrity of the conviction” after completing a yearlong investigation with Syed’s attorneys. Lee’s brother, Young, attended the hearing remotely from California. Though he told the court he trusted the system, he also said he felt “betrayed” having believed the right person had been brought to justice.

Phinn’s decision to overturn his conviction follows a request from prosecutors last week, who said they weren’t asserting that Syed is innocent, but that they have uncovered new evidence that potentially links two previously known suspects to Lee’s murder. Evidence about those unidentified individuals had been withheld from Syed’s defense attorneys during his trial.

Syed’s criminal case captured the attention of millions in 2014 when he became the focus of the hit podcast ‘Serial’ that raised doubts about the evidence presented against him, including cellphone tower data. “Serial” podcast host Sarah Koenig was in the courtroom at the time of Syed’s ordered release, and the podcast announced on Twitter that a new episode of the program will be released Tuesday morning.

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10 days of official public mourning culminated in the funeral for Queen Elizabeth II, Britain’s longest-serving monarch. The coffin bearing Queen Elizabeth II’s body was then lowered into the royal vault Monday after a ceremony at St. George’s Chapel in Windsor Castle.

The public funeral at Westminster Abbey earlier in the day was attended by world leaders, family members and many more; while the final service for Elizabeth in the chapel was said to be a more private end to the ceremonies that began after she died Sept. 8 at Balmoral Castle in Scotland.

Tens of thousands lined the Mall in London to watch the procession that followed the funeral. The Queen’s coffin was carried on a Royal Navy gun carriage from the funeral service to the Wellington Arch near Hyde Park. where it was then transferred to a state hearse for the journey to Windsor.

Elizabeth’s son, King Charles III, and other members of the royal family were to witness the actual burial in the King George VI Memorial Chapel, which is a small alcove on the side of the main building. The queen will eventually be joined there by her husband, Prince Philip, after his body is moved from the royal vault where he was interred after his death last year. Buckingham Palace said it would not be releasing any other details about the “deeply personal family occasion.”

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