ANNAPOLIS, Md. - Prosecutors dropped charges against Adnan Syed on Tuesday 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 who accompanied Syed when he walked out of prison last month, tweeted: "Breaking news: After the latest round of DNA testing generated results that, like previous rounds of testing, excluded Adnan Syed, he has now been formally exonerated!"Erica Suter, a lawyer who has represented Syed in court during his push to be freed, confirmed the news to The Baltimore Sun.The prosecutor’s office didn’t immediately respond to calls and emails seeking comment.A Baltimore judge last month overturned Syed's murder conviction and ordered him released from prison, where the 41-year-old had spent more than two decades.
Circuit Judge Melissa Phinn also gave prosecutors 30 days in which to decide whether to retry Syed or drop the charges.Adnan Syed leaves the courthouse after being released from prison Monday, Sept.
19, 2022, in Baltimore. (Lloyd Fox/The Baltimore Sun/Tribune News Service via Getty Images) Phinn ruled that the state had violated its legal obligation to share evidence that could have bolstered Syed’s defense.