Month: March 2023

A Maryland appeals court has reinstated the murder conviction against Adnan Syed, roughly six months after Baltimore prosecutors provided new evidence in the 1999 killing of Hae Min Lee, due to a lower court’s violation of the victim’s family right to attend the hearing to vacate the conviction.

The 41-year-old Syed, whose conviction was made famous by the podcast “Serial,” had his conviction tossed out by a circuit court and the state’s attorney’s office. He had been serving a life sentence for the past 23 years — more than half his life — since his arrest in 1999.

Syed was released from prison in October after Baltimore City State Attorney Marilyn Mosby said DNA evidence supported his Syed’s innocence. Lee’s family filed an appeal, arguing that they were not properly notified of the efforts to release Syed, and the Maryland appeals court ruled in their favor, stating that officials failed to provide sufficient notice for Lee’s family to attend the hearing.

Tuesday’s decision is seen as a procedural issue, and there is no reason to believe Syed will be sent back to prison. A new hearing will be held regarding the evidence to vacate Syed’s conviction, but the previous murder charges have been reinstated in the interim. The prosecutor has indicated that there is evidence pointing to other suspects and that the investigation is ongoing.

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House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Michael McCaul subpoenaed Secretary of State Antony Blinken, to demand the official records on the department’s Dissent Channel warning against a speedy withdrawal from Afghanistan.  The Dissent Channel is a confidential channel operated by the State Department and used by foreign affairs officials and other government employees. Employees may use the channel to share dissenting opinions about the government or matters of foreign affairs.

The cable from the State Department may reveal what the department’s employees in Kabul shared with Blinken and the Biden administration nearly a month before troops were withdrawn. McCaul’s press release said the record was first requested in August 2021, after U.S. troops and staff were evacuated.

Signed by 23 staffers from the U.S. Embassy in Kabul on July 13, 2021, the Dissent Channel cable warned the State Department that the Taliban was rapidly advancing in Afghanistan, forecasting a situation the Afghan military would be unable to handle. McCaul said in a statement that Blinken has refused to provide the cable despite multiple concessions being offered on McCaul’s behalf: “We have made multiple good-faith attempts to find common ground so we could see this critical piece of information. Unfortunately, Secretary Blinken has refused to provide the Dissent Cable and his response to the cable, forcing me to issue my first subpoena as chairman of this committee. The American people deserve answers as to how this tragedy unfolded, and why 13 U.S. service members lost their lives.” McCaul said concessions included reviewing the documents by camera and having the names of staffers who signed the cable redacted.

Blinken testified to the Foreign Affairs Committee last week and during his testimony he said he was preparing the relevant information the committee is seeking.

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